


Electric Feel

by RoboticPopSauce



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: And its not consensual at first, Animal Death, Blood, Character Death, Depressed Dipper Pines, Drug Use, Dubcon Kissing, Gore, I have no self control, Im sure ill add more of these later, Kind of distant but still protective Ford, M/M, Manipulative Bill Cipher, Murder, People get Murdered, Protective Grunkle Stan, Protective Mabel Pines, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, This thing is dark, holy cow, im going to hell, sex happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-19 07:19:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5958588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoboticPopSauce/pseuds/RoboticPopSauce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper Pines just wanted his, and his family's, suffering to end. After a suicide attempt, Bill decides to step in and help Dipper with his depression. But as always, his help comes at a price. And Dipper definitely pays the price.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> Welp read the tags and be warned. This thing is dark and angsty. If you're not comfortable with even one thing in the tags, I advise you to tread carefully.  
> If you're fine with all that, then by all means, enjoy.  
> Also I had to do a lot of this stuff on my phone, so please forgive errors °~°  
> The song stuck in Dipper's head is Electric Feel by MGMT btw :p

Life had been anything but exciting for Dipper Pines. After high school, he and his twin sister, Mabel, moved into Gravity Falls, his family hoping that the move would spark some life into the young man once more.

He used to be a fairly cheerful person. He and his sister would go on adventures, play out in the yard, go to the occasional party, and all of that type of stuff.

But, during his senior year of high school, he found himself wanting to do less and less. Things were getting too routine and life started to turn… gray. Nothing, not even books, caught his interest anymore.

The thought of returning to his favorite place sparked… _something_ in him, but not anything big enough for him to actually feel excited about it.

They lived there for an entire year, Mabel constantly checking up on him on how he was feeling and what he was thinking about. She tried so hard to get her brother back, but it all fell on deaf, slowly turning hopeless, ears.

It wasn’t like Dipper _chose_ to be this way. If he could, he would be what his family wanted him to be. But something just couldn’t click in his head.

Slowly but surely, that year made things worse. Eventually, Dipper was flat out sad, not just emotionless.

He would mope around the Mystery Shack, his two grunkles and Mabel watching with heavy hearts.

He saw what it was doing to them. Their faces were slowly becoming lifeless like his had.

What pushed him too far was the day Mabel stopped asking if he was okay.

Dipper went two whole days of being flat out ignored by her, and it _hurt_. Though some sick part of him was glad to feel any emotion at all, it was still enough that Dipper felt it was time to end this. For good.

An empty bottle that once held pain pills in one hand, and a note in the other, Dipper laid on his bed, trying to fall asleep so that he wouldn’t have to feel anything. He was successful, and found himself slipping into an inky blackness.

Unfortunately for him, that was the day Mabel decided to talk to him again.

She cheerfully skipped into his room, and paused when she saw him lying motionless in bed.

At first, she really thought he was just asleep, but the note and bottle caught her eye, and the only reaction she could muster was a scream, loud enough to draw the attention of one of the grunkles.

Mabel threw herself onto the bed, trying to shake Dipper awake, but found that he wasn’t breathing.

Stan ran into the room, knowing exactly what had happened the second he saw the scene. It didn’t take long for him to run over and pick Dipper up, not having any trouble since the boy was thinner than anyone would like, and rushed out of the room, Mabel running after him.

“Ford, we’re leaving. _Now_.”

His twin brother paled when he saw his family members, and nodded, dropping his book onto the kitchen table and following them out the door to the car, where Mabel sat next to Stan in the backseat, sobbing so hard that she thought she might pass out.

Ford drove recklessly, to say the least, and they made it to the hospital in no time at all.

After a few hours of doctors trying desperately to save him, they finally were able to get a pulse back and stabilize him, and could get him into a room.

When Dipper woke up, he almost sobbed. Almost.

Mabel was sitting by his side, knitting something with headphones in, and the second he shifted to sit up, her head shot up and her chocolate brown eyes bored into him like knives.

Guilt immediately filled his gut, and all he could do was look down at his hands.

“Dipper,” she whimpered. The headphones were forcefully pulled from her ears and she bolted upright, dropping her project onto the floor.

She hugged him so tightly he felt like his head might pop off, but he allowed her to keep holding him while she cried.

Others came into the room, and from then on Dipper wasn’t left alone. Even when he went home, one of his family members was always at his side, trying to be as positive as they possibly could.

Dipper could always see how much he had hurt them though. It was in their eyes and in the way they danced around topics and certain words.

God, he wished they had been too late. At least that way they could get on with the grieving process. This way it felt more like he had just trapped them in the already shitty situation and made it a billion times worse. Making it so they would be constantly mourning his taken life, even though he still walked among them.

Life slowly became routine again, and eventually Dipper could have some moments of time to himself, where he would try to force himself to read.

Book after book, he realized nothing was different; it all still felt horribly plain.

It was as if he desperately wanted something, but could never figure out what it was that he wanted. For a few weeks, he tried filling that hole with TV, sleep, food, drawing, writing, anything he could get his hands on.

Though, he never found a show he really wanted to watch, sleep never came easily, food tasted bland, he wasn't good at drawing, he only wrote about stupid stuff, and nothing else he tried helped.

When the weather was a bit warmer, Mabel insisted that they go out into the woods, like they used to do when they were young.

Maybe some monster hunting would help. Maybe that old magic they used to get involved with would fill his chest and mind, and make him feel like trying again.

Ford had even wanted to come with, and it became a family outing, since Stan figured he should come along as well.

At first, Dipper started to actually feel… Okay. It was so foreign to him though that his body rejected it, and he started to hyperventilate.

The others were just a few yards ahead of him, when Dipper tripped over a root he hadn't seen because he was trying to level out his breathing.

His shoulder collided with the ground much harder than he thought it would, and he let out a yelp.

The others rushed to his side and tried to comfort him, but at that point Dipper was a blubbering mess, his breathing so erratic and fast that he started to choke on air.

Mabel insisted that they go back to the shack, but Stan refused to do anything other than rub Dipper's back.

“He needs a second to ride this out sweet heart. If we move him it might make it worse. Just help me comfort him.”

And so they all sat around Dipper for an hour, rubbing his back, running fingers through his hair, and using calming voices to tell him that everything was okay.

As that hour went on, Dipper tried his best to let the comforting work, and eventually his breathing did return to normal, but he ended up passing out and needed to be carried back home.

When he woke up, he was alone in his attic room, Mabel having took one of the other rooms in the house for the sake of their privacy, and found that his shoulder hurt.

It was a dull ache, and it reached up to his neck, making too much movement a painful chore.

As if she knew he had woken up, Mabel peaked into the room and rushed over to sit by him.

“Feeling okay?”

Dipper replied with his usual response; “Sure.”

An extremely fragile smile found her lips and she lovingly brushed his bangs from his face. “Dipper Pines you're a terrible liar. But I don't mind. My twin senses tell me all I need to know. And,” she lightly booped his nose “I know you need some food and water.”

“Okay,” he mumbled.

Her smile faltered, but she remained as cheery as possible. “C'mon brobro. Let's go tell the Stans you're up.”

She gingerly helped Dipper get out of bed and walked him out to the kitchen.

Dipper followed her in a zombie-like manner, keeping his eyes down on his feet so that there was no threat of tripping on anything again.

“There you two are!” Stan was at the stove preparing a breakfast.

Apparently, Dipper had slept for quite a while. Not that he minded, but yikes.

“I’m making Stancakes, so sit down and give me a minute, and you’ll be able to feast on the breakfast food of gods,” he said easing his hands above his head and clenching them as if he was ready to throw a punch.

Ford, who was already seated at the table, and Mabel who took the seat next to him, both let out a laugh.

Dipper felt like maybe he should laugh too, but couldn’t even bring the corner of his mouth up. He gave up on laughing and sat down across from Ford, poking at the bottom of his blue T-shirt.

He was still wearing his jeans from the day before, and realized that someone had taken off his jacket and shoes when they put him in his bed.

“Thanks for taking me home yesterday,” he said softly. At first he wasn’t sure that anyone had heard him, but Ford slowly looked up to him and smiled.

“Of course. How are you feeling today?”

There was no way he was going to tell them that his shoulder hurt. They already worried about him enough. Maybe whatever was wrong would get infected and kill him. He could only hope.

“I’m okay.”

Ford nodded and they were all quiet after that, until Stan brought over everyone’s food.

The three talked about mundane things while Dipper sat and took tiny bites of the meal.

Even though it was coated in syrup, and had a lot about it that _should_ be delicious, every time the food met his tongue, he found that it was bland and dry.

Since he knew his family was watching him, he forced himself to down at least two of the pancakes, and drink an entire glass of water.

“I’ll be in my room.” Dipper stood to clear his plate and go, but after he put his plate in the sink, Mabel jumped up and joined him.

“H-how about we play a video game?”

Everyone looked to see his reaction, and he felt his face get hot. Nothing like having everyone in the room fear for your life, just from you saying that you wanted some alone time.

“I’m just going to sleep,” he said in a somewhat snippy tone. “You can even check on me later.”

Without waiting for any other response, Dipper trotted up the stairs, so ready to be back in bed, where he could stare up at the wall.

A week went by after that, and Dipper realized the pain in his shoulder was just getting worse. Moving his right arm at all hurt, so he elected to just stay in bed as much as possible.

Mabel would come sit in the room with him, knitting on the edge of his bed, telling him about her day and the people she talked to.

He was thankful for it, since when he was left alone the silence threatened to drive him mad, but it was a little hard when he actually wanted to sleep.

“H-hey, Mabel?”

She perked up and looked over at him, smiling warmly. “Yeah?”

“I kind of want to take a nap.”

Her smile wobbled, but remained. “Sure thing. I’ll be up again in a few hours, okay?”

Dipper nodded and pulled the covers over himself.

Once he heard the door close, he let out a deep sigh.

Why couldn’t he just be what she needed him to be? Why did everything have to be so fucking boring? Why doesn't food taste good anymore? What was the deal with his body being so shitty all of the time?

A frustrated groan erupted from his throat, and heavy breathing followed. It lasted long enough to make him lightheaded, and eventually he passed out.

Instead of his usual dreamless slumber, Dipper found himself in the forest. Everything was grayscale, and an overwhelming feeling of dread filled his gut.

He knew where he was.

“No, no, no. I can’t handle this on top of everything else.” He meant for that to sound angry, but it came out incredibly flat and lifeless.

The Mindscape was quiet. There was no yellow triangle floating around him like he thought there would be.

The last time he had seen the triangle was when he was thirteen, and Ford had banished him back to the Nightmare realm. The damn Dorito had terrorized his family for too long, and Dipper felt a hatred for him after he had used his body like a puppet.

Huh. He felt something other than sad for a moment. At least hate was another emotion.

The dream continued, but nothing happened. Why had Bill pulled him into the Mindscape if he wasn’t going to even talk to him? Just to mess with him?

Dipper shrugged it off and found himself flinching awake, since he had rolled onto his hurt shoulder.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Mabel was there at the end of the bed, and saw his bad reaction to the movement.

“Fine,” he said too quickly.

She didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyway. “Please tell me if anything is wrong. I want you to know that you can talk to me.”

He nodded and wiggled back into a comfortable position.

Every time he slept for the next four days, he found himself in the Mindscape. On the third night, he could’ve sworn he heard someone whisper his name, but he wasn’t able to find where the noise had come from.

It was on the fifth night that Bill finally showed himself.

“Pine Tree,” a soft voice said.

“Finally. Why am I here? What do you want?” Dipper looked around and still couldn’t see him. “Where are you?”

Bill laughed, as a blond man, a few inches taller than Dipper, with an angled jaw line and thick black eyelashes, appeared in front of Dipper.

“Like it? I designed it myself,” Bill purred.

Dipper’s shoulders rose and fell in a sloppy manner in place of a decent shrug. “I literally do not care what you look like. The fuck do you want?”

The demon leaned back and put a hand to his chest, as if he were actually offended by the comment. “My, my, you sure have gotten to be rude.” Bill wrapped an arm around Dipper’s shoulders and leaned in so that their faces were about an inch apart.

Dipper didn’t even flinch, and honestly would welcome it if Bill killed him for his rudeness.

“I’ve come to help you, little sapling. I’ve been watching you for a little while now, and I must say, it has been _de-press-ing_.”

“How the fuck would you help that? And I bet you want something ridiculous in return, right?” He still didn’t move or show much emotion in his face. He hoped Bill would just state what he wanted, take the rejection, then leave.

Bill lightly twirled his hand, and a small vial of something purple appeared. “I just want some light chores done in your dimension. Little chores only someone with a physical body can do. In return, I’ll supply you, with this.” He wiggled the vial around a little in front of Dipper’s face, and a toothy grin spread on his lips, revealing his shark-like teeth.

Dipper looked him in the eyes, noticing that they were blue and gold, the colors dancing around his iris’ like a weird lava lamp. “So you want to take my body, in exchange for… a drug?”

The demon laughed loudly and moved his arm off of Dipper. “No, no, you would be doing the tasks in your own body. And, it’s not really a drug. It’s more of… magic. It’ll regulate your simple human brain and make you normal, if not better, again. Plus it’ll heal that pesky shoulder of yours. I can assure you, this type of magic is hard to obtain, so my only asking for small favors in return is a _huge_ discount, kid.”

“How do I know it won’t kill me? Or do something horrible?”

“I can give you a sample before you make a deal with me. See if you like it, as a show of good faith.” Bill leaned in again and a devilish smirk played on his lips. “Besides, I thought death was welcome for you.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Dipper did not give a single fuck if the potion killed him or not. Maybe it would help. He could at least try it.

“So I take this sample, see if I like it, then you come back and ask for a deal again?” Dipper put his hand to his chin, where he scratched at the scruff that had grown there. Maybe it would make him want to shave too.

Bill nodded and put the vial in front of Dipper’s face. “Just try it. The worst that can happen is that it kills you, and we both know that’d still be a blessing for you.”

What the hell, Bill was right. “Fine.” Dipper roughly took the vial, popped the top off and drank it.

Nothing big happened immediately, but Dipper could already feel something in his head start to tingle.

“Tomorrow night we’ll try this little deal again. Until then, enjoy~”

Dipper woke with a start, and blinked a few times.

He felt _good_. Like, dancing around the room good. In fact, it felt like a song was playing in the back of his head, and he couldn’t help but bob his head to it a little bit.

With pep, Dipper got out of bed, testing his shoulder to find that it felt normal again, then made his way downstairs into the kitchen.

It was just early enough that the others hadn’t woken up yet, and he was more than okay with making breakfast for them all.

As he cooked, he danced around the kitchen, keeping in step with the song. It wasn’t like the tune was stuck in his head in an annoying way, it was just playing over and over, reminding him to keep dancing and feeling happy.

“Dipper?”

He turned to see that his family was in the doorway, all staring with wide eyes.

“Yes?” he hummed.

Mabel stepped forward and her looked went from disbelief to skepticism. “You seem to be in a good mood. What happened?”

Knowing that he couldn’t tell them what was really going on, Dipper shrugged and swung the fridge door open, grabbing the milk out. “I dunno. I just feel better.”

The three looked to each other and instead of being happy like Dipper thought they would be, they looked almost _worse_.

He held back a strange pang of anger and just nodded to the table. “Everyone take a seat, Dipper made waffles and bacon!”

They did as told, and watched him closely while he served them all plates of smiling bacon and eggs on top of large waffles.

“You okay boy?” Ford looked down at the food and narrowed his eyes. “This is an awfully nice breakfast.”

“‘Course it is. Just thought I’d use the good energy while I have it.” A very small itchy-like feeling started to fester in the back of his head, but he ignored it, and dug into the food.

It was _good_. For the first time in so long, food was tasty. Like, so good Dipper almost wanted to just eat all day. But, he didn’t, and just finished his breakfast with gusto.

The rest of him was still feeling fantastic, and as the morning went on, it just got better and better.

“Mabel,” Dipper sang “where are my good sneakers? I want to go for a run or something.”

His sister emerged from the kitchen and let out a small gasp when she saw Dipper entangled in some yarn on the living room floor.

“Oh this? I was just trying to make something. Don’t know what, but I’ve learned this is definitely your thing, and not mine,” he chuckled. “Figured I’d go for a run now. Wanna come with?”

“...No, I-I think I’m okay.” She walked over to him cautiously, slowly kneeling down to help him get the string off of himself. “Are you okay?”

Another weird feeling of anger flashed quickly in his mind, but it passed rapidly without incident and he just smiled back at her. “I’m great Mabel. Something just feels better now.”

With a small nod, Mabel gestured to the hall closet. “There’s a pair of sneakers in there that are good for running.”

“Thanks. Catch you in an hour!”

Oh outside was amazing. The usual gray screen had been lifted, and Dipper could see the green leafs and brown bark on the trees, the incredible blue of the sky, and he could _smell_ everything. How weird was it that he hadn’t even noticed that he had lost the ability to smell things fully?

The feeling of the sun on his skin sent pleasant chills up his arms and he almost felt like he could cry. He couldn’t even remotely remember the last time he felt this connected with the world. This _awake_.

By time he made it back to the shack, he was panting from running all over the place, smelling flowers, touching everything and anything, and he was even a little tired from just staring up at the sky. The clouds didn’t look as flat as they normally did, and Dipper wanted to keep the incredible picture of them in his mind.

As the sun set, Dipper got cozy in the front room and realized the usual sadness was starting to sink back in.

He couldn’t actually make another deal with Bill, right? He really didn’t want to let this go though…

“Hey Dipdop!” Mabel plopped down next to him and nudged him lightly. “Still feeling better?”

He shrugged with one shoulder and let his head fall back onto the couch. “I’m starting to get a little tired. Having energy is weird.” This was the most he had spoken in weeks, if not months, and he could see Mabel perk up with every word.

There was no way he could take this from her. He had already caused her so much pain, it was time to give back.

Mabel nodded and fidgeted with the sleeves of her purple sweater. “Look, I’m sorry we were all acting so weird about this today. It’s just- Dipper you’ve been so… gone for so long, it was honestly a little scary to see you so happy. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just…” Tears started to roll down her cheeks and she sniffled. “I’m so happy that you’re happy. Even if it only lasts for today, I’m so glad that you got to feel it again.”

For the first time in a long time, Dipper felt like he wanted to comfort his sister. So he did.

She started to sob when he hugged her tightly, and was trying to laugh at the same time.

“It’s okay Mabel. It’ll be okay now,” he reassured.

“I-I l-love you Dipping Sauce. I-I’ve mi-missed this so m-much.”

“I know. I have too.”

Dipper stared at himself in the bathroom mirror and took a few deep breaths. He was just about to head to bed, and knew that Bill would be there waiting for him.

Since the magic really did work, and gave him a high that he never thought he could feel again, he was ready to work something out for it.

Plus, he hadn’t seen Mabel so happy in a long time either. He was going to do it for himself, and he was going to do it for Mabel. A few demonic chores would be worth it.

Once he laid down, he felt something pull him to sleep, and figured Bill had done it, since he was eager to speak with Dipper.

He wasn’t sure if the demon had watched him throughout the day, so he was going to take the safe bet and guess that he had. He was going to need to down sell the magic as much as possible, so that he could try to “pay” less for it.

“Did you see that smile? Those tears? I was on the edge of my seat!” Bill was already waiting for Dipper in the Mindscape, still in his human form, sporting a top hat and yellow tux that had brick patterns on it. “It had so much drama! So much…” he paused and a wicked grin spread on his face “ _Emotion_. Well, did you love it or what? Getting your feelings back? Wanting to actually do something?”

Dipper shrugged. “It was alright.”

“ _ALRIGHT_?” Bill’s eyes grew wide and his mouth twitched. “Pine Tree, I saw everything. I know you loved it. And I know you want to make the deal.” He stretched his hand out and blue flames sprouted from his palm.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dipper chuckled. “I have some ‘fine print’ things to go over with you. You think I’d just shake on this? After what you did last time we made a deal?” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow to Bill, who looked amused and pleased.

“Oh, you have grown up! I love it Sapling!” Bill hugged him and swung him around, and as they spun, the world around them changed.

Suddenly they were in a room where a plain black desk sat, with two chairs on one side that looked just as simple. The walls were an obnoxious yellow, and Dipper realized the room couldn’t have been more than twenty feet each way.

“Why are we in a yellow cube?”

Bill tossed him into one of the chairs, then sat next to him, getting strangely close. “This is where I negotiate!” With a few cracking sounds, Bill stretched out his hands and wiggled a little. “Get comfy, I tend to be in here for _hours_. Hopefully our terms will be simple enough that it won’t be a problem, but just a fair warning. You’ll likely be sleeping in. Hope it doesn’t worry Star too much! It would suck to have you wake up in a hospital bed.”

“We’ll just do this quick then. The basic deal is you give me the magic stuff that makes me feel better, and I do some ‘tasks’ for you in the real world. I want to know what the tasks are specifically before I agree to them.”

The demon listened intently and had a content smile on his face. “I want you to collect some items from the forest, nothing too difficult. I will also be needing you to do a few blood rituals, using just small animals or something; whatever you feel comfortable with killing.”

“What is it all for?”

“Well, since our last encounter, I’ve been knocked down a few pegs on the power side of things. I can’t do as much, and it feels like I’ve had a leg chopped off. I wouldn’t use the power to hurt anyone, I just want to be able to do the other stuff I used to be able to do.”

Dipper narrowed his eyes. “And the blood rituals; they’re nothing too extreme right? Like I won’t have to hide too much from my family?”

Bill nodded his head and chuckled. “They’ll be simple. Nothing extreme.”

“Okay, okay,” Dipper huffed. “So, I help restore some of your magic, so that you can do more in this realm, not use it to hurt anyone, and you’ll give me magic.”

“Yup! But, the terms are if you don’t do something I ask, you don’t get your fix for the next day. And let me tell you kid,” he leaned in and smiled his horrible smile “the withdrawal this stuff gives you is _brutal_.”

A shiver went up Dipper spine, but nodded. “Okay, so that begs this question then; when you’re back to normal with your magic, does the deal end, and I just go back to being the way that I was?”

“I’d slowly start to give you less and less, and make sure the side effects of you stopping didn’t happen. And, the best part is, by that time you’re done taking it, the emotions part will be permanent. I really am just trying to help out here kid. I just happen to be getting something in return.”

Well, it didn’t sound too bad. Dipper could deal with killing a few things here and there. And the stuff really did work, so it would be worth it.

“Any more questions, comments, concerns?” Bill purred.

“...No, no, I think I’m good. What time is it in the real world? Have I been asleep long? Is Mabel worried?”

“Yeesh,” Bill chuckled. “Calm down. Eight AM, a normal amount of hours, and she isn’t awake yet. We finished just in time.” Bill extended his hand again and the blue flames engulfed it. “We got a deal then, Pine Tree?”

Dipper gulped and took a deep breath. Welp, here goes. Hopefully this would be for the better.

  
“Deal.”


	2. Chores

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's more of this dark ass fic :p
> 
> It gets worse as it goes on.
> 
> Content warning: Animal death
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Waking up turned into something beautiful. Before, it was the hardest thing Dipper could do, but now Dipper felt like jumping out of bed and dancing down the stairs.

He would always wake up before his family, and would either make them breakfast and stay to chat, or would eat something quick and small, then go out for a jog in the woods.

As far as his deal went, Bill had only asked him to do really small things, and their interactions would be very brief. First he asked that Dipper collect strange mushrooms and flowers, and to keep them in jars in his room. Which worked out nicely, since his family would ask what he was doing in the woods. He lied and told them that he was just trying to study the forest, and wanted to start keeping journals again.

They were half thrilled, half worried. They didn’t seem to be taking it like he thought that they would.

Every time he would be too happy around them, he would get worried looks, and occasionally he would hear them whisper about the possibility of drugs.

When this happened, Dipper felt a strange wave of anger. Sure he technically _was_ on drugs, but it wasn’t like the magic was hurting him. It was making things better, why would they be upset about that? Why couldn’t they just be happy for him? He was finally what they wanted him to be, and now not even that was good enough.

But, Dipper would let it go each time. Sure it was a little frustrating, but he had to remember that they were just worried for him. They loved him. They would come around to this. They had to. It would just take some time.

Bill was being surprisingly nice about it all. Each time they met in his dreams, Bill would ask how he was doing, and would make sure to give him a workload based off of how he was.

Again, it was light stuff, so Dipper never worried about being able to do it, but Bill seemed adamant about making sure that Dipper was up to it, and didn’t want to give him more than what he felt he could do.

He asked once or twice about how Dipper’s family was taking it, and was met with an angry shrug.

“Not too fond of the new you, huh? They’ll come around kid. And if they don’t, well then fuck ‘em!” He chuckled and patted Dipper on the back. “I’m just kiddin’ Pine Tree. I’m sure they’ll get used to it.”

Dipper shrugged again and huffed. “So anyway, what do I need to do tomorrow?” He found himself being more and more casual with Bill. For the first week of the deal, he was very standoffish, and didn’t talk more than he had to. Now he would engage in small talk and actually listen to what Bill had to say.

Bill was still Bill though. Albeit a little nicer, he was still his usual snarky self.

“Well, I need some of the stickier stuff done now. Remember those plants and stuff you got? Take them all into the woods, find a nice little clearing, and draw out a basic rune circle. I’ll put the image of the lay out of it all in your head when you wake up. Then, find a small animal, preferably a bird of sorts, and drain its blood over the center of it. I’ll be there in spirit soaking up the magic from it.”

Dipper shivered. “A bird is kind of small, isn’t that like, not a lot of blood?”

Bill made a show of laughing really hard, floating up and grabbing at his stomach. “Oh Pine Tree,” he said as he laid on his back in mid air “if you want more blood, find a bigger bird. This little ritual doesn’t require that much, but if you’re wanting a blood bath, then by all means Pine Tree, kill enough to fill a tub, I’m definitely not going to stop you.”

“What the fuck, no that’s not what I meant,” Dipper half chuckled. “I just meant… Well, whatever I was just wondering. I thought it would need more.”

He booped Dipper on the nose. “Nope! Oh, and by the way, this ritual, as well as most of the others, works best if you do them at about six PM. Something to do with the sun’s position I’m sure.”

“You mean you don’t know why?” Dipper laughed and nudged Bill, who put his feet back on the ground.

“I do, I just don’t have the time to explain it all to you. Nor do I care to. So, eat dinner, then head out into the woods.”

The little vial of purple magic appeared in front of Dipper, and he grabbed it without a second thought, bringing a smile to Bill’s face.

“That’s for getting the last things yesterday. Do this right and I’ll give you a slightly higher dosage tomorrow night.” Bill watched Dipper drink it with an almost manic grin, giving Dipper the chills.

“Okay,” was all Dipper thought to say. What would a higher dosage do? Would he just be… happier? He didn’t feel like he could be much happier. Either way, he was curious to see, and was determined to do everything right so that he could test it.

“Well, good morning Pine Tree. I’ll be watching you!”

The world around them snapped away, and Dipper woke up to his usual bedroom.

It was much cleaner than it usually was, since Dipper actually felt like he had the energy to keep it that way, and waking up to it was much less of a burden than usual.

The others were already awake, and Dipper figured that his chat with Bill just went on a bit longer than usual, so he just slept in a bit.

“Morning,” Dipper hummed as he sat down across from Ford.

“Morning Dipper.”

Yikes. That was a cold hello. Dipper furrowed his brow, but let it go. He had other things to think about.

“Morning Dippin’ Dots!” Mabel was a little different than the Stan’s. She was obviously happy that Dipper was feeling better, but her enthusiasm was faked most of the time, as Dipper was sure that the older men were filling her with doubts and worries.

Though he didn’t want to, Dipper started to feel a little resentment towards his grunkles. His good mood kept him from snapping at them, but man did he feel like doing it.

“What are your plans today?” Ford kept a neutral expression, and just stared Dipper down. It was as if he knew something.

Dipper was used to lying though. He had to do it a lot lately, so it was becoming second nature.

“At about five-thirty, I’m going on a bit of a hike. I’m looking for something specific that only happens around that time.” Dipper held his stare and was sure to smile, hoping that it would help the lie.

Ford looked at him a bit longer before looking back down at the book he was reading. “Alright then.”

He knew something. Dipper would have to cover his trail better, and make sure none of them followed him out into the woods.

As the day went on, Dipper found himself mentally preparing for the ritual. Killing a bird wasn’t something he would feel bad about. He ate meat, so what was the difference? He would be sure to kill it quickly too, so it wouldn’t suffer.

At about five, his watch went off, beeping to let him know that he needed to start finishing up anything that he was doing.

“Be careful out there today. Come home safe.” Mabel was smiling, but Dipper could see the worry in her eyes.

“For the love of God, I am not like, shooting up or something in the woods,” he laughed. “Mabel, I just… Feel better, alright? Can’t I be happy?”

She didn’t respond for a moment, and just sighed. “I know,” she said softly. “I just- I worry. The change seemed so sudden, and it’s like you don’t even have down days anymore. Normally someone coming out a depression as bad as yours would still have days where they kind of rebound. But you’re just… happy. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have this than another hospital trip, or worse, but…” she sighed and hugged him. “Promise me you’re okay and not doing any drugs?”

He hesitated to hug her back, but knew if he didn’t she would take that as a no. “Promise.” Technically that wasn’t a lie. Magic wasn’t a drug.

“Okay,” she breathed as she pulled away. “I trust you Dipper. Have fun out there. Fill up those journals!”

“Will do sis.”

Just as Dipper thought he might, Ford tried to tail him out into the woods, but he managed to lose him, ducking behind a large tree and waiting for him to pass.

It irritated him to no end that Ford thought he could get away with following him out, but Dipper brushed it off and continued on his way to find a clearing big enough for the picture Bill had put into his head.

Eventually he came across one that was the perfect size, then let his heavy backpack filled with the jars slump to the ground, the clanking noises making Dipper cringe. He’d remember to be more gentle next time.

“I know you’re around Bill, so you’d better not laugh at me if I fuck this up,” he said to the air around him.

Of course, if he did fuck this up, he wouldn’t get his dose of magic, and he really didn’t want that to happen. Facing the withdrawals Bill spoke of wasn’t something Dipper wanted to go through at all during this whole ordeal.

The circle of runes was easy enough to draw out, a can of spray paint perfectly covering the clearing in them. He dug the plants and other things out of his backpack, spreading them over the runes in a very specific way, making sure to carefully follow the picture in his head.

“Now to find a bird.” That was probably going to be a little harder than Dipper thought.

How was he even going to catch it? Sheer willpower and energy wouldn’t even help him here, and lately those have been what he was depending on.

Okay so, bird, bird… Bird. Or small creature, but he prefered a bird, only because Bill said he wanted a bird over other things, and he wanted this to make Bill happy enough to give him the higher dosage.

Dipper could hear a few birds nearby, and figured they’d come down if there was food involved, so he got out one of the granola bars from his bag that he had packed in case he got hungry, then broke it apart and threw it on the ground a little ways in front of him.

By pure dumb luck, a few birds fell for it, landing gracefully in front of him, pecking away at the chunks of the bar.

Slowly, Dipper crept up on them, using his now mostly empty bag as a net of sorts, bringing it down on them just in time to catch not one, but _two_ birds. He thought for a moment about letting one of them go, but decided that more blood might make Bill happier. Killing another one wouldn’t hurt anything anyways.

He managed to get the bag zipped up after a bit of a struggle, then grabbed at the birds through the fabric, snapping both of their necks one at a time. It was a strangely… exhilarating feeling, their bodies going limp under his fingers.

Once they were both completely still, he unzipped the bag and dumped the bodies out, getting the pocket knife out of the side pocket of the backpack.

Dipper stood in the middle of the circle, both medium sized birds in one hand, hung by their feet, the other hand holding the knife.

Bill hadn’t given him any instructions other than get the blood on the middle of the set up, so that’s what Dipper did. He cut both birds open, starting from the bottom of their gut to their neck.

Blood trickled out, and he had to step back a bit not to get it on his shoes. The gashes he made were a bit too deep, and other things started to come out, like entrails and pieces of bones, the sight making Dipper gag a bit.

He dropped the birds, a gross squish and crunch sound coming from their impact.

“Well, that was disgusting,” he mumbled to himself as he cleaned the knife off in the dirt.

After he grabbed his bag and made sure he didn’t have any gore on him, Dipper made his way back to the shack, glad that his family seemed to be in their rooms, doing their own things.

He went into his room, shedding his clothes and tucking the knife and backpack away in his closet.

Though it was barely nine PM then, Dipper figured he’d go to sleep. The hike through the woods and setting up the runes had tired him out, and he was eager to see what the extra magic would do to him.

“You did so well!” Bill beamed as Dipper awoke in the grayscale version of his room.

“Thanks?” He sat up and rubbed at his face, realizing he was still in his boxers. “Couldn’t have put some clothes on me?”

The demon shrugged, his weirdly loose fitting T-shirt rising and falling sloppily with his shoulders. “Your Mindscape kid. And you’re welcome! Two birds was a great idea!” He plopped himself down next to Dipper, wiggling his long fingers in front of his face. “I have lots more power now! Which is great, because that means, it’s easier for me to get…” He moved his wrist in a circular motion, a glass cup appearing in his hand, the purple magic filling it nearly to the brim. “This!”

Dipper carefully grabbed it from him, making sure not to spill any of it. “Are you sure taking this much isn’t like, bad for me or something?”

“Nah, you’re fine! It’ll just last you the next two days, and the high from it will be more intense than the other times. Nothing to worry about. Well, your family may object to it. They seem pretty persistent in making you out to be a bad guy in this. Weird that they aren’t just happy about it.”

Before Dipper responded, he downed the magic, the feeling of it on his lips sending an electric sensation through his body. He shivered and panted a little, catching his breath from gulping it down. “I know, right? It’s frustrating. Ford even tried to follow me out today because he and Stan think I’m shooting up or something.”

Bill nodded and leaned closer to Dipper, patting his shoulder. “It’ll be alright kid. You’re smart enough to elude their suspicions.”

“You think I’m smart?” Dipper snorted. “Not like you to give compliments.”

“I do, actually!” He wrapped an arm around Dipper’s shoulders and pointed at his nose. “There’s a pretty decent brain behind this button nose, and I personally like it! Things are a lot more fun when there's wit.”

Dipper nodded. “Agreed. So, what kind of stuff do you want me to do now?”

The demon kept his stare for a moment, his lava lamp-like eyes making Dipper feel like his head was swimming. “A lot actually. Good thing you went to bed a little early, ‘cause we have _plenty_ to discuss!”

He wiggled in his spot, getting comfortable and ignoring that Bill still had his arm around his shoulders. Dipper was ready for whatever task Bill had for him. They pay off was worth it and the chores weren't anything he couldn't handle. It was a win-win situation.

“Lay it on me Cipher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will only have like 4 or 5 chapters tbh. It's just a short, dark, story my brain thought up while in this depressive funk, and I figured I'd share it. Also I don't really edit this one much, sooooo pbtbtbtbtt to mistakes.
> 
> It only gets darker and darker. Turn back now if you don't want the pain of the ending, 'cause it's a doozy.
> 
> Welp, anyway, comment if you feel like it. They're always appreciated.


	3. Your Love is My Drug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop here it is! Sorry the hiatus took so long. '^~^
> 
> Anyways, I added a chapter to this for reasons, so now there's 5.
> 
> Content warnings for this chapter; Gorey animal and gnome death, SUPER dubcon, pretty much rape at the end. Bill's super manipulative.
> 
> Enjoy!

Dipper worked with Bill for a few months doing more simple tasks. He began to trust that the demon really was just trying to get back to a level of normality with his powers. This was only because Bill started to hold real conversations with him while he slept, and Dipper felt that they had become friends. He would never admit that to him, but he was sure Bill was feeling the same way.

“Hey kid, whatcha thinkin’ about? You spaced on me.” Bill leaned a little to bump his shoulder and gave one of his mischievous, yet now a little endearing, smiles.

He shrugged and nonchalantly leaned on the demon. “Just life. I haven’t ever really cared to before. Thanks to you though, I give a shit now.”

Bill gave a small laugh and shifted a little so that the two were more comfortably leaning on each other. They were sitting on his bed, the grayscale colors that once brought a semblance of fear to Dipper now comforting him. “Your family still weirded out by ya? It’s been almost two months, you’d think they’d let it go.”

Dipper agreed. His family still tried to pry a little too much about his good mood. Mabel had backed off for the most part, but Ford and Stan had started to try and spend more time with him, sometimes being so insistent that Dipper had to ditch them.

“They’ll get over it,” he mumbled.

“You keep saying that.” Bill reached up and idly played with Dipper’s hair.

“I know,” he sighed. He was starting not to believe it either.

“Don’t worry about it kid, I’ll always be here. Always,” Bill laughed. “Seriously, I can’t die. You’ve tried, doesn’t work.”

Dipper laughed then sighed contently against Bill’s chest. He wasn’t sure when they had gotten to the point where they could just lay like this, but he didn’t mind. It was nice. “When do I need to wake up? And what do I need to do today?”

The demon gripped at his hair a little and hummed as if he had to think about his answers. “Well little tree, I’d say you have about an hour or so before you need to get up. And as for your chore, well, how’s about you go and get me some blood in a jar?”

He sat up a little and looked at Bill. “Like, a jar jar? How much blood are we talking here?”

“Oh, about three quartz,” he said dismissively.

“ _Quartz?_ How the Hell am I supposed to do that? A deer?”

Bill ruffled his hair and nodded. “Well, that or a person. Honestly it would be easiest to get from a human body, I’d prefer it really, but I know you’d rather kill an animal.”

Dipper blinked at him. “Uh, yeah. Not sure why you even suggested that.” He laid back against the demon and sighed. “Actually, I know exactly why, you’re insane, but still. You’re smart enough to know that I’m not.”

“Yet,” the demon laughed. “Just kidding! You’ve got a solid will and are pretty smart yourself Pine Tree. No need for you to go bonkers as well.”

“...Yeah.” Dipper shifted a little and scratched his arm. This wasn’t the first time Bill had joked about Dipper being crazy with him, and it was a little unsettling. “What time is it?”

“Time doesn’t exist here Pine Tree!” Bill pulled him close again and ran his fingers through his hair.

Dipper lightly smacked his chest and scoffed. “You know what I meant, jackass.”

“Seven,” Bill hummed. “Eager to go? Do I creep you out?” He laughed.

“You always creep me out, I’m used to that. I just… If I need that much blood in one day I have to go hunting, and I’m going to need an early start to do that.”

Bill hummed and clicked his tongue. “Right, right. You’ll probably need a bit of a boost today as well then. And I know just how to give it to you. Sit up.”

Dipper did as he was told and faced the demon, expecting him to give him one of the higher doses of magic.

“The magic I give you is especially strong when it comes from the source,” Bill said as he cupped Dipper’s cheek.

“Sour-”  He was cut off by the demon pressing his lips to his. At first Dipper was going to push him away, but soon an overwhelming feeling caused him to melt into it.

It was like he was sticking his lips right onto a conductor and electricity was being fed straight into his brain. It didn’t hurt though, not at all. In fact, it felt _good._ So good that Dipper found himself wrapping his arms around Bill and deepening the kiss.

The demon moved back after a moment and laughed. “Now, now, Pine Tree. Don’t want you to get too much.”

Dipper went limp against Bill and giggled. Wow that felt good. Better than just drinking the stuff, that was for sure.

“Now you’ll do great today sapling. Not like you couldn’t do it on your own, but the boost will help. Ready to wake up?” Bill rubbed Dipper’s cheek and kissed his forehead, which sent more jolts of electricity through him.

“Now I don’t wanna,” he laughed. His brain felt like it may have melted, and he wasn’t sure that he _could_ get up.

Bill laughed with him. “Oh Pine Tree, you’ll get to see _lots_ more of me. Don’t you worry about that. But for now it’s time to get up.”

The warmth of the demon disappeared and Dipper jolted awake, his mind a little less hopped up on the magic, but still pretty loopy.

Even with his fuzz-brain though, Dipper had a lot of energy and felt as if he had just chugged an entire pitcher of Mabel Juice.

He jumped out of bed and giggled as he wobbled around and dressed to go out and hunt. Luckily Grunkle Stan had taken him out hunting once or twice in an attempt to cheer him up, and he still had the gear in his closet.

Once dressed in camo and boots, Dipper unburied his long knife from his closet and tucked it into his pants.

It was then time to get something to hold the blood with. Where was he even going to keep that much blood anyway? Doesn’t it need to be like, refrigerated?

He shook his head and headed out of his room. He’d figure out the keeping it thing later. As for holding it, well an empty milk jug would work just fine. He’d grab a funnel or something from the kitchen after he emptied a carton.

No one else seemed to be awake, which Dipper was thankful for, so he moved around the house unseen, then went outside to get some more supplies from the shed so that he was ready to begin his day of making traps and waiting.

~~

Catching a deer was boring. They weren’t exactly in season then, and Dipper honestly wasn’t even sure that he was in the right place to get one.

He had made a couple makeshift traps from branches and what not, having dug several, fairly deep holes to at least catch one off guard.

It was already late in the day by time he was done with them, and he started to wonder if he should’ve left a note for at least Mabel. The thought left his mind and he shrugged. Oh well. No sense in worrying about it now.

The one thing Dipper’s mind continuously _did_ want to think about though, was Bill kissing him.

Did the demon feel… _that_ way about him? Or was it really just the best way to give him the drug for energy? And what did he mean by source? Was the magic he was giving him like, demon fluids or something?

 _Ew._ Dipper shivered at the thought. Well, regardless of what it was, it made him feel good, and Dipper liked it. His family would get over it eventually, and Dipper could go back to school and live a happy life. Maybe he’d go get a degree in something fun, like creative writing, or hell, he could do something with art. That sounded fun.

A rustling noise tore him from his thoughts and Dipper was shocked to see a deer actually coming close to one of the covered holes.

He narrowed his eyes. There was no way he had this much dumb luck. Animals seemed to do just as he needed them to, when he needed them to, and he was then sure that Bill was somehow helping from the Mindscape.

The doe wasn’t very large, but Dipper figured if he cut an artery he’d get enough blood to appease the demon.

Dipper laughed a little to himself. He really didn’t mind the thought of killing animals anymore. He had done it over a dozen times now, and the thought of cutting one open was no longer gross. It was actually kind of exhilarating. Only because he knew it meant that he would get more magic, though. It wasn’t like he actually enjoyed killing them.

_Snap._

The doe cried out and Dipper blinked a few times before realizing that if he didn’t move now the thing would get up and run.

He bolted from his hiding spot behind a tree and put his full weight on the thing while he pulled out his long knife and forced it into the back of its head, cleanly severing its skull from the spine.

“Didn’t know I could do that,” he mumbled to himself. The magic must’ve been making him a little stronger too, because he had gotten the knife pushed all the way in, the thing nearly poking out of the front of the does’ throat. The only thing holding it from breaking through was the stretched out skin and fur.

The thing stopped struggling almost immediately after he stabbed it, and Dipper knew he needed to work quickly to get the blood out while it was still warm. Cold blood just didn’t spill as well.

He left the bigger knife in the doe’s head and used his switchblade to slice part of the neck open while he held the funnel and jug in place.

Unfortunately for him it was _not_ a clean process. The things slipped from his hands a few times, the blood occasionally wouldn’t flow as well and he’d have to cut it open more, or press into it to squeeze it out, and he ended up with his arms soaked in the stuff.

In the end, when no more blood would come from the thing, Dipper only had about two thirds of what he needed.

He groaned. This was going to be a nightmare. Though, he still didn’t feel tired at all. He was still going at full steam, so he just shrugged off the annoyance and figured he could trap something else. This time he didn’t have to do something as big, which was good because it was already just past sunset and Mabel was probably wondering where he was.

After closing the jug, the lid slipping from his gore soaked hands a few times, and yanking his big knife out of the deer, Dipper made his way over to one of the other traps he had set.

“Alright Bill, if you want all this blood then you’re going to need to trick something else into falling through this,” he said as he lightly tapped the top of the trap with his foot. “I doubt I’d be able to do it all on my own.”

Dipper swore he could have heard laughing, but just rolled his eyes and went back into hiding. If Bill wasn’t going to help him, then he wasn’t going to get the full amount of blood.

A little while later something did in fact walk into his trap, but Dipper wasn’t exactly thrilled about what it was.

“Really, Bill? A gnome?” He snapped before he leaned over the hole to look over the creature.

It’s chest still rising and falling, but it was definitely knocked out cold, a gash in its small head bleeding a bit from a rock that was half buried on the bottom.

He stared at it for a while, contemplating what he should do. The thing _was_ already hit and possibly dying… Fuck it. Fuck it, fuck it. Dipper had no real reason to not kill the thing. It would be just enough to get what he needed, then he could go home and clean himself off. The smell of blood was making him a little sick, and he was ready for a shower, then bed.

Dipper kneeled down and reached into the hole, his hand barely able to grab the gnome and pull it up. Draining its blood would be simple enough, but it would take a good minute.

Once everything was lined up, he used his knife to slice open its jugular. It didn’t even seem to register the pain, and as it’s blood poured out its breathing slowed to a stop.

“Huh, easier than the damn animals,” he mumbled as he capped the jug again. It was full, and he was pretty sure the gnome was dead, so it was time to call it a night.

Not that he was tired quite yet, but he knew after his walk back and cleaning up, he would be.

Making sure the corpses were out where nature would take care of them, Dipper cleaned up the scene and himself as well as he could before making the trek back to the shack, where hopefully it would be late enough that everyone had gone to bed.

As he approached the home, he realized he had no such luck. Lights were still on, and he would need to ditch the bloody clothes.

He had been smart enough to dress in layers, so peeling off his windbreaker camo jacket got rid of a lot of the blood, and taking the horrid matching pants off left him in his fairly clean T-shirt and shorts, blood still on his hands. The hose next to the porch would take care of that though.

The valve made a loud squeak as he twisted it, making him cringe. Someone was probably going to come check out the noise, he needed to work fast.

Dipper rinsed his hands off in the freezing cold water, cursing Bill for giving him such a messy chore.

After that was taken care of, he quickly tucked the container of blood in the jacket, wrapping it all into a ball so that the gore would go mostly unseen. He probably had some blood left on him though, so he was trying to rush to get into the shower to finish off the evidence.

So far no one had come to check out the noise he had made, but he knew he was pushing his luck by staying out any longer.

“Where have you been!” Mabel gasped as she opened the front door.

Dipper was just about to bolt inside, hoping to be stealthy, but his luck had run out.

“Uh, well, I went out to watch a magical creature. It has really good eyesight and stuff, so I had to mask myself in camo and drown my smell out with deer blood.” He silently congratulated himself for thinking of the lie on the spot. Mabel still wouldn’t be happy about the blood, but it was a decent enough excuse. Or, so he thought.

“You killed an animal?” She paled and one of her hands clenched at her chest. “Dipper, that’s _bad._ ”

He stuttered and made sure to keep the jug of blood well hidden, the ball now tucked under his arm. “Ye-yeah, of course it is. I didn’t like go stab one to death, I got the blood from a place. They sell it for stuff like this.” Dipper held his breath as he waited for her response. If he got caught now, there’s no telling what the family would do to him, or Bill.

They’d probably seal him off where he couldn’t see Bill anymore then find a way to banish the demon again. He’d go through the awful withdrawals of losing the magic, and he’d go back to being a sad-sack that wanted death. And he didn’t want that. They couldn’t take his happiness away, that would be wrong.

They were his family, they should understand. All of them had wanted this for him, it wouldn’t be fair for them to take it away now that he had gotten it. Who cares where it came from, at least he had it.

“Well, that’s gross, but I guess if it’s helping you with your journal stuff…” She slouched and moved aside so that he could come in. “You look filthy, go take a shower.”

He smiled a sincere smile then moved passed her. “Thanks Mabes,” he said softly as he walked away.

All of the soiled clothes went into a trash bag, probably to never be worn again, and the blood went into his closet, hidden by a blanket, since he had _no idea_ what Bill wanted him to do with it.

Once he was showered and scrubbed clean, Dipper plopped down in his bed and snuggled into the blankets, immediately being pulled into a deep sleep.

“Pine Tree!” The demon sang. “You did so well kid!”

Dipper found that he was still in his bed, the color from it drained. “Thanks,” he yawned. “The magic wore off during my shower. A high dose like that comes back in the morning, right?”

Bill sat next to him, his super soft button up shirt rubbing against Dipper’s arm. “Right on the nose kiddo! Though tonight I’m going to be giving you even more! If, you say yes to my new deal, that is.”

“New deal? And I thought I was supposed to be weaning off the stuff as time went, not taking more.” Dipper narrowed his eyes at Bill. “Explain yourself.”

The demon laughed and poked Dipper on the cheek. “You are so smart Pine Tree! I know I can’t get anything passed you, so I’m not really hiding anything! Scouts honor,” he said as he mock saluted Dipper. “As far as weaning off of it goes, you need to hit the high point before you can start coming down! It just so happens to be coordinating with my needs!”

“Wouldn’t you have to give me the stuff anyway, according to our first deal? Why should I say yes to a new deal if I’m already getting what you’re offering?” Dipper crossed his arms and he couldn’t help but smile smugly at the demon.

“Sharp as a tack! I knew picking you was the best way to go, Pine Tree!” Bill wrapped his arm around Dipper’s shoulders and pulled him closer. “Of course I still have to give you the stuff, I’m not going back on our first deal! Not after all the great work you’ve done! No, what I’m offering is to make it all go by faster! Wouldn’t you like to be done with your accusing family? You won’t be hiding anything anymore when our deal is done, so you could just be happy ol’ you, enjoying life.”

“I want to know everything about this deal before I even consider it. It’s making me a little weary to even think that we need a second deal.”

Bill leaned in, his nose touching Dipper’s. “Oh, of course sapling. All of the details will be shared while I give you your next dose of magic.”

The questions from before popped into his head and Dipper moved back from Bill a little. “Uh, so what is magic anyway? If the source is your _mouth,_ then is it like, demon bodily fluids? And, uh…” The second question died at his lips. He wasn’t brave enough to ask Bill about the kiss. If it had been just for the magic, then he would be embarrassed to even think that Bill would be thinking about him in that way.

“It’s just magic, kid! Don’t over think it! What else did you wanna ask?” He closed the distance between them again and Dipper felt himself shiver.

“Uh, we-well, the… Earlier…” His words were stuck in his throat and he sighed.

Bill was looking at him through lidded eyes, a half smile sending chills up Dipper’s spine. “Mm, sapling, if you don’t want to share you don’t have to,” he cooed.

A quick peck on his lips made Dipper shudder. “Do y-you mean these?” He said it so softly that he wasn’t sure if Bill had heard.

“Of course I do,” Bill replied just as quietly.

Suddenly Bill was pulling him in close, their lips locked and eyes closed.

Dipper was sure that if his eyes were open, he’d be able to see actual electricity sparking between them, since his body was tingling like crazy. “Wha-”

“Sh,” Bill soothed, “I told you I was going to explain things while I give you more magic. Just relax and listen.” His voice was like music to Dipper’s ears, and at his command he fell back onto the bed and his limbs went lax. “Good! That’s much better.” Bill straddled Dipper and closed the gap, mashing his lips back onto his.

All Dipper could do was hum into the kiss, his words failing him. His whole body was buzzing and he couldn’t focus on anything other than Bill.

“I need you to do some bigger chores for me. In return, this whole plan moves forward faster, you get to take your magic in the way I’m about to give it to you, _and_ I’ll help you get through the chores with less fuss. No more clean up, no more hiding blood from your family.”

“Ho-how are you about to-” Dipper choked out what words he could before Bill’s hand slid up his T-shirt and halted them.

“How am I about to give it to you? Just let me work and you’ll find out, sapling.”

More jolts went through Dipper’s body as the demon moved his hands around, touching and grabbing at Dipper in ways that made him heat up.

Soon his shirt was off, Bill’s shirt was off, and the pants were being worked on.

Did he want this with Bill? He wasn’t exactly wanting to have sex while trying to think about this new thing Bill was proposing.

“N-no, Bill, I want to talk about-” Bill’s tongue licking up from his collarbone to his jaw caused Dipper to moan, the demon’s spit eliciting the same pleasure on his skin as it did from a kiss.

“I am talking, just listen,” he chuckled.

Dipper’s thoughts blurred as Bill put his mouth back on his throat, sucking lightly. He groaned and wiggled under the demon, hoping to stop him so that they could actually talk.

Bill didn’t seem to mind it though, since he just continued to move their pants off.

Being in just his sweats and boxers, Dipper’s bottoms were easily removed, freeing his erection. He couldn’t lie, it felt _good,_ but he wanted to talk. Maybe he could just enjoy this and wait until after…

“Mm, Bill, can-”

“Pine Tree, relax,” he purred. His hand snaked up his torso, his sharp nails lightly digging into his skin.

Dipper gasped at the feeling and a low groan escaped his throat.

Bill put his hand back down, his fingertips brushing over his thighs. The sensations was a little overwhelming and Dipper whined at it. “So,” the demon said as his hand teased around Dipper’s then exposed dick, “I want you to start doing bigger rituals. These ones will require certain sacrifices.”

The demon pushed their naked bodies together and ground his hips into Dipper’s.

“Ah, B-”

“Still not done,” Bill laughed.

The skin on skin contact felt incredible, and the hip grinding made Dipper roll his eyes back. Moans and whimpers were drowned by Bill’s kisses, the demon’s spit making his mind glaze over.

_You need more._

_You want more._

Eventually Dipper gave in and stopped fighting his thoughts. The magic was flooding his mind and any contact with Bill was making his body buzz. It was the most incredible feeling he had ever experienced.

“Perfect,” Bill hummed. “Let’s get some things rolling before I finish up our deal.” One of his hands went under Dipper’s waist, lifting him up a little. “Now remember Pine Tree, this is in your head. You’ll only feel pain in you want to.”

Dipper couldn’t find it in himself to acknowledge what he had said, instead he just continued to lay there, eyes fluttering, mouth stuck open a little, and panting. He could still feel the demon’s saliva around his lips and it was making them twitchy.

Bill laughed as he moved back and positioned himself so that his knees were under Dipper’s waist, Dipper’s legs hugging the demon’s sides. He slowly pushed his hips forward, and Dipper realized that Bill was about to fuck him.

The length slid into him easily and Dipper found that it was completely painless. In fact, his entire body spasmed once Bill was fully inside him, a load moan forcing its way out of his throat.

“These rituals,” Bill started as he began to thrust his hips, “need humans. Dead ones.” One of his hands went from Dipper’s his up to his chest where the demon began to pinch at his nipple.

Dipper arched his back and his mouth flew open, his throat too tight to let out any noise. Humans? Bill wanted him to murder people. “No, Bi-Bill,” he choked out. “I wo-won’t do-”

He cried out as Bill slammed his hips forward, hitting his bundle of nerves perfectly.

“Lemme finish Pine Tree,” he chuckled. “Of course you will. I’ll make it nice and easy to do! In fact, you won’t even have to remember doing it! I’ll make it seem like a dream! You won’t be able to tell what’s real, or if you’re dreaming up being sick and twisted like me!”

A second attempt to tell Bill no failed, Dipper too lost in the way the demon was making him feel. His skin was tingling like mad and his thoughts felt like they were being dragged through sludge.

“You’ll get this every night,” he said as he leaned forward to lick Dipper’s throat. “Not to mention this.” Bill’s hips moved faster, his surprisingly large cock rubbing at Dipper’s insides in a way that had the brunet writhing in pleasure.

With no ability to speak, Dipper just shook his head. He didn’t want to kill anyone. Animals were one thing, but killing a person was too much.

“Seems like I need to up the ante.” Bill hummed for a moment, his hands now rubbing up and down Dipper’s abdomen, occasionally scratching at him with his claws. “How about I give you more time with me?” He paused as if he was waiting for a response then clicked his tongue. “Oh right! You’re too busy enjoying me fucking you to speak! Well, allow me to explain.”

Dipper was unable to hold still completely, but he managed to at least look at Bill to let him know that he was listening.

The demon’s eyes were glowing, making the lava lamp-like effect pop even more. It made Dipper’s head swim, worse than it already was.

“We can get to the end of our deal, you’ll be all fixed, but I’ll stick around so we can do more of this.” He pushed himself into Dipper slowly, then wiggled his hips a little once he was fully inside of him.

It caused Dipper to start moving again, his hands clenching the bedsheets while his hips wiggled in an attempt to get more friction from the demon’s cock.

Bill leaned forward as one of his hands wrapped around Dipper’s length, the other propping him up. His lips touched Dipper’s ear, sending a shiver down the brunet’s spine. “Don’t you want me?” The demon’s voice sounded so smooth and even his breath was making Dipper feel good. “I want you,” he cooed.

At that point Dipper was overstimulated. His entire body was shaking and his mind was fried.

What was Bill even talking about again? He just asked if Dipper wanted him. Did he want that? Yeah, he did. But what else had he even said? Something about a new deal…?

“Pine Tree,” he sang in a thick, sultry voice, “I can feel your body getting ready to explode,” he snickered. “I won’t let it unless you say yes.”

Oh but Dipper wanted that. No, he _needed_ that. Didn’t he?

“Mm, Bi-ill,” he mumbled out. The demon was right, he was right on the edge. “What am I sa-saying, yes to again?” His voice came out so breathy and squeaky that he was shocked to see that the demon understood him.

“Be mine Pine Tree, do as I say. I’ll make it easy. So easy…” He licked Dipper’s neck all the way up to his cheek.

More electricity seemed to spark from it and Dipper felt his muscles spasm.

“I’ll only let you finish if you say yes,” Bill said a bit more firmly.

Dipper forced himself to nod. “Ye-yes, Bill, please, le-let me- Ah!”

Before he could finish his sentence, the demon kissed him harshly and rammed into him, pushing him right over the edge.

His entire body pulsed at the orgasm and any thoughts that were going through his mind fizzled out. The incredible feeling blocked out everything else for a good while, and as his brain started to clear up a bit, Dipper found himself writhing and panting while Bill was lying next to him.

“Didn’t that feel good, sapling?” Bill rubbed Dipper’s cheek and neck, humming contently. “Now you’re all mine.”

“Yo-yours?” He forced out. Dipper couldn’t even fully remember what had just happened. He and Bill had just had sex, that was for sure, but everything else was still lost in the haze. Hopefully he’d remember when he woke up.

“All, mine.” Bill moved Dipper so that they were facing each other and pulled him into a hug. “You’ve got a busy day tomorrow, Pine Tree.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Seeing Dipper come home covered in blood was worrying, to say the least. Mabel had mulled it over in her head one hundred times, trying to determine if he had lied to her or not.

Not even just about the blood, but with everything. Was he on drugs? Was he out killing things? Why would he lie to her? Why wouldn’t he ask for help?

Maybe his new happiness was some sort of weird super-depression. Like it got so bad it came full circle.

She shook her head and sighed. The only person that she could talk to that might know was Ford, and if it meant helping Dipper, she was going to tell him everything she knew.

Finding Ford was never hard, no matter the hour, since usually he was in his lab underground, tinkering with lord only knew what. Mabel made her way to the vending machine, typing in the password quickly.

It was late, and she didn’t want Dipper to see her up and going to Ford. She noticed a little while ago that he acted weird around the Stans, and would flat out ignore them sometimes, a weird smile on his face and his foot tapping to music no one else could hear.

She wasn’t too worried though, since Dipper slept like a rock anymore. One time she had tried to wake him to ask about a weird noise she had heard outside, but he just mumbled something in Latin and rolled over.

His behavior was becoming too weird for her, and she needed answers.

“Oh, Mabel, what brings you down? What time is it? It’s not midday already, is it?” Ford stood from his chair and popped a few joints.

“No, it’s late still. Like three AM.” She glanced around the room nervously, not sure how to start.

“Well what’s the matter? You seem distraught.” He stepped aside and offered her his chair. “Do you need to sit down?”

She waved him off and shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m just… Worried about Dipper.”

Ford sucked in a deep breath. “We all are. This new thing of his is concerning. His depression was, and still should be, pretty severe. I can’t imagine someone being able to turn on a dime like he did.” He scratched at the scruff on his chin and hummed. “Have you seen anything else that has made your concern worsen? Is that why you’re here?”

“I-I saw… I saw him come home covered in blood. He’s been out all day, and I mean _all_ day, and he came home late. He was carrying an outfit with blood splatters on it. He even had some on his face. He said that it was just deer blood, bought to hide his scent or whatever, but…” She hadn’t realized that she had started to cry. “I wanna believe him so bad,” she sobbed.

Her grunkle pulled her into a hug and patted her back. “I know Mabel. I know. We’re all going to get to the bottom of this. I’m going to look up anything and everything that could be causing this, and we’re going to work together to get him to talk. He’s still Dipper, so we should be able to get through to him.”

A thought crossed Mabel’s mind and she shivered as she moved back from the hug. “What if this has something to do with a magical creature? Would he be able to break out of whatever this is if there’s magic involved? Isn’t it able to mess with your head really bad?”

Ford’s face scrunched up and he clenched his hands into a fist. “The only things that could do something like that are a succubus, or a demon. And I haven’t seen Dipper with any hickeys or love notes.”

Mabel gasped. “A demon? Why would a demon…” Her hands shakily covered her mouth as realization washed over her. “Yo-you don’t think…?”

“I’m afraid it may be. Mabel, you giving me this insightful information may have just saved Dipper’s life.”

More tears ran down her cheeks and she took in a deep breath. “I’m glad I talked to you. We need to act fast. H-how did he even get here?”

“I don’t know,” Ford sighed. “I thought we had taken care of him. But it seems now that he’s using Dipper for something. Your brother was in a weak state of mind, and the demon seems to have taken advantage of that. Unfortunately, taking him out may take away Dipper’s new happiness as well.”

Mabel nodded and wiped a few tears from her face. “I’ll help him more than I did before. I-I should have been there for him. This is just like when he-he… I should’ve been there!” She began to sob again, only to have Ford pull her into another hug.

“Mabel, you can’t blame yourself for these things. You have your own life, no one blames you for not being with him twenty-four-seven.”

“I know, I know, but I was just… I was so tired, I just needed a small break. I couldn’t be ignored again, I-I just needed to not talk to him for a few days, I ju-just-”

“Sh,” Ford soothed. “It’s okay. None of this is your fault. It’s no one’s. Dipper’s condition is something that happens, and it’s very hard to fix. You’ve been the best sister in the world to him. Not many people would even do half as much as you have for him.You love him to death, and he knows that.”

She nodded and sniffled. “Thanks grunkle Ford.”

“Not a problem.” He cleared his throat and stepped back from her. “Right then. Are you ready to help me get Bill out of Dipper’s head?”

Mabel wiped her face again and nodded. “I’m going to do anything it takes to help him. Bill doesn’t stand a chance against us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drugs are bad m'kay?
> 
> I'm warning you guys one more time, it gets darker. Turn back now if you're not prepared for it.
> 
> Lol also forgive errors, since I only type this story when I'm sad late at night.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments, kudos, and all that jazz are always appreciated!


	4. Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow look I updated this :o  
> Without Wi-Fi I've been able to write a ton and actually have chapters of stuff done now. It's just a matter of going through the shite process of posting the updates :p
> 
> Anyway, here's more of this fucked up, short fic.
> 
> The song Dipper listens to is this one, because of the pilot episode:  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yG0oBPtyNb0
> 
> Content warnings: Slight gore and murder.

Vibrant blues and yellows swirled and danced around Dipper’s ceiling, moving as if they were trying to devour each other. When they touched they rubbed together smoothly, their edges blurring into each other a little before they separated again. It was beautiful, and Dipper couldn’t help but lightly laugh at it.

A voice called his name a few times but he refused to break from watching the colors. They were really fascinating and they seemed to be telling him something.

“-ipper! Dipper!”

Once his brain recognized that it was Mabel, Dipper sat up and tried to blink the colors away. As soon as his eyes refocused, they were gone, evaporating away like smoke.

“Whaddya want?” He searched both faces in front of him, and saw that it was Mabel and Ford who had woken him up. “Why are you both here?”

Mabel sat on the bed next to him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “We’re worried Dipper. You’ve been acting weird.”

Dipper’s gaze went over to Ford, who was practically glaring at him. “You mean _Ford’s_ worried. You know ‘m fine Mabel. We talked about this.” He ran a hand over his face and gave her a small smile.

“I am worried,” Ford snapped. “I’m worried because you’re clearly unwell, Dipper. No one gets better like this. You’re clearly getting help from something. Some _one._ ” He crossed his arms over his sweater and stared Dipper down.

There was no way Dipper was just going to admit what he was doing. Especially since he had agreed to kill people for Bill. He had totally agreed to do that, and he didn’t feel all that bad. Why didn’t he feel bad? He should be feeling terrible, but…he just didn’t.

“Dipper?” Mabel grabbed his hand and looked at him with her watery eyes. “Dipper, is _he_ helping you?”

“ _‘He'_?” Dipper asked, though he knew exactly who they were asking about. They knew, but he could still deny it.

“Bill, Dipper! Is he helping you?” She said a bit loudly. “Please don’t lie to me. We’re trying to help you. He’s a bad person, demon thing, if he’s bothering you we need to know so that we can help.” Mabel squeezed his hand and held his stare.

He didn’t like lying to his twin, but he needed Bill. If he told them about him, he would have to give up seeing him and getting the magic, something he definitely didn’t want to do. “Bill’s not bothering me, Mabel. I promise. I’m just… I don’t know. I want to feel better, so I am.” He looked over at Ford and glared at the man. “Why can’t I just be happy!? You all looked at me like the burden I was, moping around because you had to deal with me, then now that I’m finally happy you turn it around and suddenly I _have_ to be sad to be me? It’s not fair!” He pushed Mabel away and even gave her a dirty look. “And I thought you would be different!”

She stumbled off the bed and blinked at him. “Dipper…”

“No! You’re all the worst! I’m trying to give a fuck about being alive and now I’m the bad guy? _That's_  fair.”

“It’s not-”

“It is though!” Dipper interrupted Ford before he could defend their actions. Whether it was Bill heping or not, his family should be happy for him. “You guys should just leave. I have things to do today, and I need to get ready to go out.”

They both looked at him for a moment before Mabel nodded quickly and pulled Ford out of the room with her, despite his protests to stay. Dipper knew he could count on Mabel to feel bad for him. Even though she seemed to be siding more with the grunkles, she was still Mabel, and some tears and shouting would always make her back down.

Once he was sure that they were gone, Dipper got out of bed and put on an outfit fit for hiking. He already knew what he needed to do and where to go. Bill didn’t have to tell him, it was just in his head as if they were his own thoughts.

He chose to go out to eat rather than stay at home to face the awkwardness of dealing with his family, and left without so much as a glance at them. Staying out all day would worry them even more, but Dipper didn’t really care anymore.

Greasy’s Diner was one of the only places in town that had food that was any good, so he chose to go sit there and have a few cups of coffee and some pancakes. Thankfully he was one of the few people in there and was able to enjoy the quietness of the old place.

His coffee smelled and tasted fantastic, he could actually taste the flavor of the syrup poured over his food, and he felt happy. How could his family want to take this from him? Bill or no Bill, he deserved to be happy, and they should be happy for him. It was flat out cruel of them to want to yank this out from under him.

“Everything okay, hun?” Susan startled him from his thoughts as she poured him some more coffee, spilling a bit on the table from her lack of depth perception.

“Oh, yeah. Peachy. Thank you,” he smiled.

“Well okay, let me know if you need anything.” She smiled back and headed into the kitchen, leaving Dipper alone again.

He eyed his newly filled mug and licked his dry lips. He could think more about his family’s betrayal later. For now he had to think about the more pressing issue: Bill expected him to murder someone. Which he knew he should be more nervous about, but instead he kind of felt...interested. How different would it be from killing an animal? Would he have to blindfold them so that he didn’t have to look them in the eye? How was Bill going to make sure that he wasn’t caught? How was he supposed to even get someone to follow him out into the woods?

“Uh, waitress, could I get some more coffee?” A man a few booths in front of Dipper raised his hand up to grab Susan’s attention. He was a good deal smaller than Dipper was, and seemed like he was barely able to be called an adult. His short brown hair and slim, hairless jaw could be why he looked so young, but Dipper doubted the kid was any older or much younger than he was.

“Sure thing, hun!”

Dipper watched as she went over and filled the other man’s cup, something in his head telling him that the guy wasn’t from Gravity Falls.

“Thank you,” they man said weakly as she walked away. He wiped up the spilled coffee with a napkin before taking a sip of his drink, his eyes briefly locking with Dipper’s before he quickly looked away.

It was interesting to see that Dipper had made the man nervous, and he wondered if the man could sense what was going through Dipper’s head.

That was the man he was going to murder.

~~

There weren’t many hotels in Gravity Falls. In fact, there were only two. The man Dipper had followed was staying at one close to the way out of town, which was much more convenient than if he had been in the other, which was right smack in the middle of town.

Dipper didn’t realize how stealthy he could be until the man finally stopped looking over his shoulder while exploring town. It seemed like he was just passing through and that he would likely check out of the hotel room in the morning. That is, he would, if Dipper wasn’t planning on dragging him out into the woods to sacrifice him to a demon.

Those thoughts had stopped making him queasy a few hours into the day. At first they freaked him out, made him want to go tell Bill to go fuck himself, but as he walked around watching the other man, he began to let it slide. Bill was doing him a huge favor. Dipper would never have had the energy to walk around town and enjoy the sights and sounds, and he was sure doing a few big things like this in exchange for his life back was worth it. Plus Bill had said that he would stick around after everything was said and done, and...Dipper wouldn’t mind that. He wouldn’t mind that at all.

The man went back to his hotel room at about three, which gave Dipper the time he would need to set things up out in the woods. Bill had left a clear list in his head of things he needed to do and how to set everything up, so Dipper got to it.

It turned out that he needed the deer blood to write out the symbols and circle, so he had to sneak into the shack and grab it without being noticed.

Luckily he was able to stick the jug of now room temperature, probably nasty smelling, blood in his backpack so that it would stay hidden. He also packed another set of clothes in case the ones he was wearing got blood on them. Mabel would likely stay up again to see what he was up to, and he couldn’t get caught covered in blood again.

He got all the way downstairs again without being seen, but before he could open the door Mabel cleared her throat and stopped him in his tracks.

“Are you going to be out late again?” Her tone was flat and it sounded like she had been crying.

“Yeah,” he said equally as monotone. He didn’t like that he had to be this way with her, but really it was her fault for siding with Stan and Ford. Dipper was going to do what needed to be done to get his life back on track.

“Be safe.”

“I will.”

And then he left. He didn’t look back at her or even think twice before he was off into the woods, planning in his head where he would set up the ritual.

~~

Deep in the woods, where it would be hard to find, the ritual sat ready for Dipper. It was a fairly clean set up, considering all the blood, since all Dipper had to do was spill it out of the jug slowly and walk around. It was thicker and a little harder to spread around than fresh blood would be, but he had managed to get the circle and symbols drawn out nicely.

Dipper, on the other hand, was in town. It was getting late, but the sun had yet to set so he still had enough light to do what he needed to. Though, he still wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to get the man to follow him out into the woods. He wasn’t exactly charming, definitely not enough to convince a total stranger to follow him somewhere suspicious like that.

The man’s car was still parked at the hotel which was nice, it meant he at least didn’t have to go looking for him. Why he was even so stuck on this person he didn’t know, but it was at least going smoothly.

That is until he saw the man come out to his car and start packing some bags into it.

Dipper swore under his breath and panicked. He _could_ just try and find a camper or hiker out in the woods, but they would likely be in a group, and he didn’t want to deal with trying to break up a group. He had to try and think of something that would make this guy work for him.

The only road back out of town was pretty deserted late in the day, and it was likely that the guy would be leaving close to sundown since it looked like he had slept most of his day after he came back to the hotel. It might be possible for Dipper to stop him out on the road and get him to leave his car. Maybe if he made up some lie, the guy would follow him out into the woods. He would need to go pretty far out and wait for the guy to pass, though.

He decided that that’s what he would do. If it failed, he would just stay in the woods and deal with finding a hiker or camper. It would suck, but he would make it work somehow.

It took a while to get out far enough to make his lie believable, and by time he was out there the sun had set behind the mountains, the only light coming from the glow of the town. The woods were dark and hard to see in, but that would help him even more.

Two cars passed by that definitely weren’t the guy’s car, and it made Dipper a little nervous. But that, too, was fine. He needed to look sweaty and winded for this to work. He just hoped the guy was the kind of person to actually stop for someone that needed help.

When he saw the man’s headlights approach where he was, Dipper made a show to dart out of the woods and wave the man down frantically. To his relief, the man pulled over and rolled down his window.

“I-is everything alright?” His eyes were wide and he looked like he himself was panicking.

“M-My sister,” Dipper panted. “W-we were out hiking sh-she fell!” He mentally patted himself on the back for his performance. He really sounded afraid and upset.

“I can give you a ride back into town to get someone-”

“No, I can’t leave her that long! I just need someone to help me carry her out. Both of her legs are banged up pretty bad.” Dipper let out some fake tears and sniffled a bit. “S-sorry, I’m just freaking out.”

The guy nodded and shut off his car, fumbling to get the door open. “I h-have my phone, we should call for help,” he said as he pulled his cell from his pocket.

Dipper worried for a moment that he would need to hit the guy at this point to avoid the police, but relaxed a bit when the man made a face at his phone.

“No service. Dammit! Oh well, we can bring her back here and I’ll drive you guys to the hospital. Which way is she?” He shoved his phone back in his pocket and closed the driver door.

“This way,” Dipper said as he began to quickly walk into the trees.

That had been easy. The guy was nice, he would feel a little bad about killing him. But he couldn’t think about that. What he needed to think about was how he actually was helping Mabel, in a way. She wouldn’t have to deal with his sadness anymore after this, and neither would he. This would be worth it.

The two broke into a lazy sprint, Dipper not minding the leg work. The magic was still giving him plenty of energy, and he planned to use it on taking the guy out.

“O-over here?” The guy panted as they came upon the clearing Dipper was leading him to. The man stopped in his tracks when he saw the blood, taking a few steps back. “Wh-what the fuck? What the Hell is this?”

Before the man could run, Dipper gave a hearty punch to the side of his head, knocking him out cold. Luckily his dead weight wasn’t very heavy, and Dipper was able to pick him up and take him to the center of the circle without having to drag him over it and ruin it.

While he had some time to himself, Dipper cleaned up his face of tears. He hadn’t realized he had still been crying while they ran, and laughed a bit at how well he carried the performance.

He took his backpack off and got his headphones out, putting in one of the earbuds so that he didn’t have to hear the sounds of killing. He had learned with the animals that he didn’t like the sound of flesh tearing. Not like he was going to skin the guy, but he needed to make him bleed. A lot.

He tied his arms and legs so that if he did wake up it wouldn’t be a problem, then took his hunting knife and cut the man’s arms. It sliced the skin cleanly, opening a wound from the inner elbows to where the rope held his wrists. Blood flowed freely from the wounds as soon as the knife separated the skin, and it spilled onto the dirt below them, mixing in with the dry, now glowing deer blood.

It was interesting to watch the magic start to practically pull the blood into the ground, and Dipper was so transfixed by it that he didn’t notice the man open his eyes.

“I thought I would die in a car crash,” the man said weakly. “I guess this is close enough.”

Dipper looked down at him and blinked a few times, surprised that he spoke. “I guess so.”

“C-can I ask you a question?” The man was looking Dipper right in the eyes, and it made him wish he had blindfolded him.

“...Sure.”

“I know you’re p-probably like a serial killer or something, and you might not want to, but if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you maybe use my phone and text the contact name, ‘Sis’ and just say ‘I love you’? I don’t think I’ve said it enough.”

He stayed still for a moment, not sure what to do. It wouldn’t hurt to give the man a dying wish, but he also thought it might tip someone off to come look for him. It took him a moment to decide, but Dipper found himself nodding in the end.

“Is…” Dipper cleared his throat, “Is that why you helped me? Because I said it was my sister?”

The man nodded weakly. He was on his side, his hands tied in front of him. It looked uncomfortable, but Dipper didn’t dare move him.

“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I was going home from seeing mine.”

Dipper awkwardly fished the cellphone from the man’s pocket and looked to see if there was service yet. “I’ll do it when I get back into a place with service. But I have to destroy it after.”

He laughed. “Th’s fine. It’s… old… any-anyway.” He squeezed his eyes shut and huffed. “So why bleeding to de...death? It feels weird.”

“Believe me or not, I’m sacrificing you to a demon,” Dipper laughed dryly. “I sound crazy, I know, but he’s a pretty cool guy. Demanding, for sure. That’s why we’re here.”

The man wheezed in place of a laugh and sighed. “Wow. That’s some Dateline shit, dude. I’m not going to say anything like I hope you get caught, but I can’t imagine a mess thi...is big ca-” He took a deep breath and shuddered. “It’ll be a pain to clean this up.”

“Yeah. The demon said he’s going to help me with that, so I’m not too worried. Magic is a wonderful thing,” Dipper shrugged. “Can… Can I ask your name?”

“Ryan,” he said plainly. “And wow, magic, huh? I’d-I’d ask more questions, but… I think I’m ru...runnin’ outa time here.” His eyes started to flutter closed and his voice got quieter and quieter as he spoke.

“If it’s any consolation, I am sorry. I think he wanted you specifically for some reason.” Dipper flipped Ryan’s phone in his hand a few times, thinking about how heavy it suddenly felt.

“‘S’all right. I didn’t have much goin’ for me. My… sis’... all I really had. Sh-she’s doin’ jus’ fi-fine. Don’t need me…” His voice was nearly a whisper, and his eyes stayed shut. “‘S your name?”

“Dipper. I go by Dipper.” His voice cracked. Why the fuck did Bill pick this guy?

“Cool.” And then he stopped asking questions. The circle glowed for a few minutes more, then dulled, the blood staining the dirt underneath them.

The entire world went silent. There were no birds tweeting, no wind to move the leafs. Everything was just dark and quiet.

Dipper stared down at the scene, hot tears freely flowing down his cheeks. He just killed a man, and it was nothing like he thought it would be. There was no real fight, no screaming, no begging for his life. He just cut a man open, talked to him, and watched him die. It was...hollowing. And infuriating.

He stood up abruptly and clenched his fists, careful not to crush Ryan’s cellphone. “Bill! You fucking asshole!” He shouted into the trees. He knew the demon was there. Watching. Probably laughing.

The blood under him glowed again, but that time the light flashed so brightly that Dipper had to cover his eyes until it was gone. When he moved his hands away from his face, Ryan and all of the blood was gone.

A faint thought in his head let him know that he was on his own to dispose of the cell. Dipper was okay with that. He was going to give Ryan his last wish.

After drying his face off and making sure he had all of his things put back in his backpack, Dipper made his way back out of the woods, using his own phone’s flashlight to make sure he didn’t have any gore on him. He made sure to leave a different way than the one he came in, and hoped Bill knew to take care of the car too.

He kept his eye on Ryan’s phone for when service came back on. It didn’t get any until he was already almost back in town, and he figured he’d better get it over with quick. The phone had no passcode to open it, and his sister was the last person he had sent a message to, so getting it open was easy. Typing the message out, was not.

Dipper stared down at the empty text box and shivered. It was three words, but it felt like he was about to type out an entire novel.

Eventually he tapped his fingers over the keys, typing the words as quickly as he could without messing up. A sigh of relief left him when he hit the send button, and he felt himself go lax.

Only to tense right back up when the phone vibrated.

[Sis]: _‘Is everything alright?’_

Dipper gulped and stared at the new message. He had to destroy the phone, fast. Maybe he could just crush it under foot, then chuck the pieces in a random trash bin.

It buzzed again, but that time it was a call. Dipper freaked out and threw the phone down on the ground, his foot smashing into it over and over until the screen finally cracked. He knew it would need to be broken worse than that though, so he found a rock and smashed it. Over and over and over until it was practically dust.

By the time it was totally ruined, Dipper was panting and shaking. He needed to get home. He needed to talk to Bill.

What was left of the phone ended up in a trash can near a street lamp, and Dipper was glad to be rid of it. The thing felt like a brick of lead.

~~

Mabel was waiting for Dipper on the stairs with a mug of cocoa. She was staring down into the cup, watching the little marshmallows melt and froth the surface of the drink. “Did you learn something new for your journal?” She asked without looking up at him.

“I did,” he said dismissively.

“Okay.” Her eyes met his and she gave a weak smile. She had been crying. “I made this for you. It might not be hot still, but-”

“It’s perfect.” He took the mug and took a few gulps of the warm drink. It was delicious, as her cocoa always was. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

Her smile widened and she sniffled. “No probs bro-bro! I just wanted to...apologize for this morning. I-”

Dipper put his free hand up and stopped her. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I know you’re just worried. But I really am okay, Mabel. And… I love you. I love you, Mabel. You’re the best sister anyone could ever ask for.”

His twin immediately broke down into tears and hugged him, not caring that she nearly spilled the drink over the both of them. “I love you too, Dipper,” she sniffled.

Their hug lasted long enough that his cocoa was cold when she finally moved away. As he said goodnight, Dipper couldn’t help but feel like he was also saying goodbye.

~~

“There he is!” Bill beamed as he plopped down onto Dipper’s bed. The world around them was gray, but the demon’s eyes glowed with the same blue and gold they had before.

“I think I hate you,” Dipper said softly. He stared into Bill’s eyes and it felt like he was unable to yell like he wanted to. The motion in the swirling colors distracted him.

“No you don’t,” he sang. “That guy was perfect to show you how easy it was to kill even the nicest of people! In fact, his niceness is what helped you!” Bill wrapped an arm around Dipper and leaned closer to him as if he was excited for his response.

Dipper shook his head and looked away from Bill. “I didn’t like it. I-I don’t even know how I brought myself-”

“Sh, sh, sapling, it’s okay,” Bill soothed. His voice actually calmed Dipper, and he relaxed into the demon’s hold. “Look at me.”

Even though he really didn’t want to, Dipper turned to look at Bill again. His eyes were glowing a little more intensely, and they made everything else around them seem blurry.

“You’re okay. Everything’s okay. You don’t have to do this again for a little while,” he said softly.

“I don’t wanna do it ever again,” Dipper sniffled. He hadn’t realized he had started to cry, but it seemed to make Bill upset.

“This was the only one that’ll seem real. The rest is going to be like a dream. You won’t be able to tell which ones are the real ones, and which ones are fake. I’m going to distort your reality so that you can be happy. Okay?”

Before he had the chance to respond, Bill kissed Dipper and slid his tongue between his lips, making the weird energy shoot through Dipper’s body like a lightening bolt. All of his thoughts about screaming and fighting with Bill fizzled up, and all his brain wanted to think about was Bill’s warmth and tongue.

“You’re going to keep killing and being happy. Right, sapling?” Bill said as he broke the kiss.

Dipper duly nodded and leaned in for another sloppy makeout session.

Bill laughed and gave him a quick peck. “Good boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bill is evil and manipulative and Dipper is on a slippery slope.
> 
> One more chapter left, and this is your last warning of how fucked up the ending is. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get it out, but it'll come out eventually. And it's a doozy.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (sorry again about the wait) comments and kudos always appreciated :)


	5. Bad Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the finale of this fucked up thing. Sorry it took me 10000 years.
> 
> It's not really edited because I grossed myself out and didn't want to read it again oops. That's part of the reason the gore isn't as detailed as it could be; I got grossed out even though I thought I could stomach writing it lmao. Also, there's French in this and I don't speak French so I did my best with what I had. It's only a small thing anyway, but sorry if it reads weird to any French speakers.
> 
> Anyway, here are content warnings: Kinda detailed gore and character death, blood, and murder. Seriously, if you don't wanna see some of your probably favorite characters die or just have a weak stomach, turn back now.

Blood trickled down the bark of a tree, splattered onto it by the stroke of a knife. It had become too easy to freely slash skin open. There was never even resistance from his victims anymore. It was like the people could see Bill behind Dipper’s eyes and knew they were fucked, so they just stood and accepted their fate. They didn’t run. They didn’t scream.

He mostly hadn’t been able to tell anymore when he was dreaming or not. Not when it came to killing, anyway. Bill assured him not to worry about it, though, so he didn’t. In the clear, awake moments he had, he was happy and that was what mattered.

Cleaning up was no longer a problem. So long as Dipper washed himself off Bill took care of the messes he left in the forest. The demon really was gaining a lot more power from the human sacrifices and it showed through his amazing cover-ups and the amount of magic he would give him when they met up.

Dipper’s current kill that lie in front of him was sprawled out over a chalk circle, one that Bill told him would be one of the last. It was one of the more clear rituals and Dipper was fairly sure that he was awake and that it was real. He could rarely ever tell but sometimes it was a little obvious despite Bill’s efforts. Especially the times where he would accidentally cut his hand with his knife. Thanks to the magic it would heal quickly, but the pain was a wake up call.

Bill said he could still feel pain when it wasn’t real, but Dipper started to find that he never messed up in the dreams. They were always clean, quick kills, ones that went by quickly and were harder to remember. However, he still had no idea how many people he had _actually_ killed.

“ _Good job, now come home and let me see you,_ ” Bill’s voice rang in his head. As Bill gained more power from the rituals, he also seemed to be able to do a lot more in the physical world, as well as talk to Dipper vividly through his thoughts.

“Next one should bleed easier. I don’t think I cut deep enough and it took forever for ‘em to bleed out,” he mumbled. He stuck his knife into the ground then slowly pulled it out, using the dirt to clean the blood off. “Or I need to sharpen this thing.”

“ _Do both! The quicker you kill the sooner you get to see me._ ”

Dipper smiled and looked himself over to make sure he was clean then started to head home when he knew that he was free of any blood splatter.

“ _Although the deaths_ are _a bit easier to stage and whatnot when you cut them up like they did it to themselves. Like the first one! Making his death look like a suicide was cake!_ ”

“Everyone bought it, sure, but the ones you make look like animal attacks are a little bit more...stress relieving.”

Bill’s laugh echoed in his head. “ _Still stressed about the family? As far as I can see, they’re all there is to be stressed about!_ ”

“Yeah… They just still don’t listen. I keep tellin’ them I’m happy, but they still think you’re in my head, messing things up. I mean, you are, but you’re doing good up there! I’ve never felt better!” He threw his hands up in frustration.

“ _Exactly! I’ll find something to do about all that. For now, watch your head._ ”

Dipper ducked under a branch just in time, avoiding smacking his head into it. “Thanks.”

“ _Not a problem, Pine Tree._ ”

Mabel didn’t wait up for him anymore. She used to bring him hot cocoa and would ask him about what he had studied while he was out, however after Bill started talking to him when he was awake he didn’t have much to say to her, so she stopped.

Soon she started to do the same as the Stans did and would flat out avoid him. He could see that they would have hushed conversations about him and if he ever walked in on the three of them trying to hide their conversation, he would just smile and grab what he came in the room for, then leave. His smile would be replaced by a scowl and his light footsteps would turn into angry stomps.

“ _Stop thinking so much about it, it won’t be a problem for much longer._ ”

“I know,” he said quietly as he walked up to his room. No one was awake, but he still didn’t want to get caught talking to himself. He had to be extra careful about it, or else his family would then have no reason to doubt that Bill was in his head.

It was never difficult for him to fall asleep thanks to Bill pulling him into it. It was like a weird, warm hug that he got every night as soon as he was comfortable, and he would immediately be in Bill’s arms in the grayscale version on his bedroom.

“This better, Sapling?” Bill hummed into his ear.

“Much,” he sighed contently.

Bill nipped at his ear, the small bites sending waves of pleasure and warmth through Dipper’s body. “You did so well today. Are some of the kills still feeling real? Do you need me to up the fake ones a little bit?”

Some part of Dipper made him nod his head even though he really didn’t mind either way. He was getting used to killing and it didn’t bother him like it did the first time.

“I’ll do that then.” Bill rubbed his bare chest, the skin contact with the demon making Dipper lull his head back onto the blond’s shoulder. He chuckled and licked the shell of Dipper’s ear.

Dipper groaned and melted into Bill’s arms, silently begging for more. The doses being given to him via physical contact were way better than the ones he used to take. He never felt like he was out of energy and he was never sad. Well, his family sometimes made him feel upset. Angry, mostly. No matter what he told them they still weren’t happy for him. He finally gave them what they wanted and he was still somehow a heavy burden.

“You’re getting tense,” Bill said as he stopped rubbing. “Are you thinking about the rest of the Pines again?”

He nodded.

“They’ve been causing my poor Sapling so much trouble,” he cooed. “For you to be getting tense while I’m touching you is bad news, Pine Tree. They’re no good for your new mindset. Maybe it’s time to ditch them?”

Dipper shook his head. “I don’t think they’d let me leave. They know you’re in my head, they’d sooner strap me down in Ford’s lab and pry you out.”

Bill laughed and hugged Dipper tightly. “Oh, Pine Tree, they couldn’t pull us apart if they tried!”

He cuddled into the hug and nodded. Bill was so comforting. Everything about him made Dipper feel safe. _Happy._ “I _am_ an adult… I could probably just pack lightly and leave one day. Not like they could call the cops.”

The blond moved one hand into Dipper’s hair and began running his fingers through the slight curls. “We both know they’d come looking for you. I could help with magic, but honestly, Ford could find you even then. Running isn’t much a solution with them.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t wanna talk any more about it.” He curled up as much as he could against Bill and huffed.

“Okay, no more,” Bill agreed. He continued to brush his fingers through his hair, humming some tune that Dipper didn’t recognize. It was one of their quieter nights and he was okay with not talking about anything. Mostly because his mind didn’t focus much on other things unless Bill was speaking to him. He could go through his day with basic thoughts but anything too complex only went through his mind when Bill would bring it up. All of his thoughts mostly revolved around the demon, and he didn’t really mind it.

Bill was helping him. Giving him a new life, one that he liked and was okay with. So what if he had to get his hands dirty? He couldn’t have killed that many people, and Bill even said he would be done soon. Once he had the free time, he could start living his new life and doing stuff with it. He still wanted to go back to school, maybe get a degree in some sort of art or something. He could do that once he was done killing people for Bill.

“You need to wake up soon, Sapling. Is there anything you wanted to do before then?” Bill looked down at him with a warm smile, one that Dipper had grown to love.

“Yeah,” he said before turning to face Bill. He pushed his lips to the blond’s and hummed when he felt the sparks of pleasure pulsing through him.

They made out until Dipper’s thoughts were nothing but a blur of words and pictures. He could only hum in response when Bill told him he was going to wake him up.

When he woke up his mind was clear enough to get out of bed and get dressed, and he decided to go sit at breakfast with everyone. He had quit doing it after… Well, he didn’t remember when he stopped spending any time with them. However, he figured that maybe if he went and acted normal around them then they might let up a bit.

All three of them were already sitting at the table eating pancakes, going completely silent as soon as Dipper walked into the room.

“Morning,” he said slowly.

“Uh, morning, Dip! If you want I can make you some pancakes.” Mabel’s forced smile put him off and he sneered despite not meaning to.

“No thanks.” He opened the fridge and grabbed a soda, not caring that he missed breakfast. He wasn’t sure how often he really ate anymore. It was obviously enough that he was still alive, so it was okay for him to skip the pancakes.

“O-okay. Do you wanna watch a movie or something? We can marath-”

“Not really in the mood, thanks. Besides, I have something I need to do today.” He didn’t really but after seeing how they were all looking at him he didn’t feel like spending any time with them like he had planned on.

“Okay,” she said softly as he left the room.

After grabbing his shoes, Dipper made his way outside and into the woods. It was the only place he could sit down and think or talk out loud to Bill without having to worry about his family overhearing him.

“ _You okay?_ ” Bill asked once they were alone.

“Fine. Just… They were looking at me like _that_ again. Like I’m some- some burden.” He gulped down some of the soda he had brought with and shook his head. “I want it to stop.”

“ _Oh? How badly?_ ”

“You’re in my head, you figure it out.”

Bill laughed in a giddy way and Dipper felt a warm shiver go up his spine. “ _Aw, Sapling, I want you to say it!_ ”

Dipper shook his head and no words left his mouth. Some part of him was still holding out on not thinking of the thing Bill was suggesting.

“ _Whenever you’re ready then! I can wait,_ ” he sang.

He found a spot under one of the bigger trees and sat down, his back resting comfortably against the bark. “Is there like, some way for you to play music in my head? I forgot my headphones.”

“ _I can sing to you if you’d like._ ”

“That works. I’m sure you’ve got some _golden_ pipes,” he laughed.

“ _Ah! Puns! I love ‘em! You got it, kid, I’ll sing to you._ ” Bill made a throat clearing sound then hummed a few notes as if trying out the acoustics in Dipper’s head.

_Ne me quitte pas._

_Il faut oublier,_

_Tout peut s’oublier,_

_Qui s’enfuit deja._

_Oublier le temps_

_Des malentendus et le temps perdu_

_A savoir comment._

_Oublier ces heures_

_Qui tuaient parfois_

_A coups de pouruoi_

_Le coeur du bonheur._

_Ne me quitte pas,_

_Ne me quitte pas,_

_Ne me quitte pas,_

_Ne me quitte pas..._

“Is this French?” Dipper asked softly as Bill trailed off.

“ _It is._ ”

“What does it mean?”

“ _Nothing to worry about. Is it helping?_ ”

“Yeah. You can keep going if you want.”

“ _With pleasure, Sapling._ ”

Bill continued to sing the song in Dipper’s head, his voice echoing in the weird way that it always did. It was calming despite Dipper not being able to tell what he was saying. He knew just enough to pick up a few words, but nothing that really helped understand it.

His eyes had closed at some point and he hummed pleasantly when he felt a warm touch on his cheek. It took him a moment to realize that he was being touched, but when it finally registered with him his eyes flew open.

In front of him was what he could only describe as a ghost of Bill. There was a faint, blue, mist-like outline of his human form right in front of him, one hand on his cheek and the other on his chest. He was smiling and Dipper could see his sharp teeth and feel his warm breath.

“B-Bill? How?”

“ _I’ve almost got enough power to make myself real for you, Sapling. Would you like that? For me to be real?_ ”

“You are real, Bill.” He tried to touch Bill’s cheek but his hand went right through it.

“ _I’m real in some ways, but not real enough. I need to_ ** _touch_** _you, Pine Tree._ ”

Dipper laughed and let his hand fall into his lap, Bill’s blue mist moving like dust particles around it. “Yeah, I’d like that. I want you to be real.”

Bill’s smile softened before he vanished. “ _Can only keep it up for so long,_ ” he chuckled. “ _But that’s okay. If you really want me to be real, you’ll do what I need you to, okay?_ ”

“Okay,” Dipper smiled. “What do I need to do?”

“ _Just a few more kills. Some really powerful ones, with a lot of energy behind ‘em. Think you can find me some?_ ”

He shrugged. “Maybe? I can try. You just need to point me in the right direction.”

“ _Can I help this time?_ ”

It was a little weird that Bill asked to help, but Dipper didn’t see why not. It wasn’t like he wasn’t already doing everything Bill told him to, so nothing would really change anything.

“Knock yourself out.”

“ _Maybe I could ride co-pilot?_ ”

“Co-pilot?” Dipper stood up and stretched out. Sitting down wasn’t comfortable anymore so he just started to walk aimlessly.

“ _Yeah, y’know, take over sometimes? I need your permission to fully access every part of your head._ ”

“Uh, sure. I don’t mind.”

Bill laughed, “ _Haha_ **_mind._ ** _You and your puns._ ”

Dipper hadn’t meant to make the joke, but he liked when he made Bill laugh.

“ _Alright then! I’ll help out with the last few kills to make sure they’re the pointiest end to this needle!_ ”

Dipper nodded and focused himself more on where he was going. He wasn’t sure why he had headed back to the shack. He had cooled off and he was sure everyone had split off to do their own thing by then, though, so he could sit around and maybe watch some TV if no one was in the living room.

“ _Open the door quietly,_ ” Bill told him as he reached for the knob.

Without questioning the demon, Dipper opened the door as slowly and as quietly as possible. It creaked a little, but it wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the near-shouting that was going on inside.

“We can’t do that to him,” Mabel pleaded. “I want Bill gone too, but we can’t just tie him down like that. Th-these methods look like _torture._ ”

Ford could be heard sighing at her outburst. “Mabel, there are very few ways that we can pry Bill from Dipper’s mind. This is the _tamest_ one. He will, unfortunately, feel pain, but there’s not much else we can do. Dipper would never willingly give Bill up at this point.”

His twin let out a frustrated groan and sniffled. “Why? Why did Bill have to pick him? Why is this happening?”

“Pumpkin, it’s awful, really, it is. But people’ve been gettin’ murdered. It’s not Dipper’s fault, but the second he gets caught for something Bill did, he’s… Well, he’s fucked. We have’ta stop this before that happens.”

Mabel sniffled again. “So, what, then? We just get him while he’s asleep and tie him up in the basement?”

“I suppose that would be the easiest way,” Ford agreed. “Bill will likely be watching over him in his sleep, though, so we will need to at least wait a few nights or until I can ward myself so that he can’t sense me coming.” He shifted and Dipper could hear him clear his throat. “Are we all in agreeance with this?”

“If it helps the kid, I’m in,” Stan sighed.

“...If it’s the _only_ way to help him…” Mabel said slowly.

“It is, unfortunately. Does this mean I can count on you to help, then?”

“...Yes. I’ll help you help Dipper.”

Dipper had heard enough. He quietly closed the door then silently went back down the porch steps. He wanted to make it seem like he was just coming home and that he hadn’t overheard their plans to literally tie him down and torture him, stealing his happiness away.

“ _Yikes,_ ” Bill sighed. “ _This isn’t good._ ”

He chose to ignore the demon, for the time being, instead putting on his best happy face before he walked back up to the door, opening it as calmly so that his family wouldn’t catch on to how furious he was.

“Hi, Dipper,” Mabel said in a fake, cheery voice when she stepped out of the kitchen. “H-how was your little hike?”

His blood was boiling and his hands were clenched into fists in his jacket pockets, but he gave a half smile anyway. “It was fine. Just cleared my head, mostly.”

“Oh.” She shuffled her feet and looked back at the door. “Well, that’s good. Do you have any more plans for the day? I was kind of hoping you and I could maybe play-”

“Busy.” His anger showed through the single word in a way that made Mabel’s smile vanish instantly, making him reel it in before she realized that he knew something was up. “I-I’m just in a mood today, sorry. I don’t wanna hang out if I just feel pissy, y’know?”

Mabel gave a short nod and her small smile returned. “Yeah, o-of course. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Will do.” Dipper stormed off to his room, his hands shaking from having kept them in fists. It was infuriating that she could smile at him after just having agreed to _torture_ him. What kind of sister would do that? He was doing this for them, why would they want to throw all of his progress away?

_“We need to do something before tonight. Who knows when they plan to grab you.”_

Dipper punched his wall, his fist splintering the wood. “This is for _them,_ ” he growled through his clenched jaw. “I’m doing this for _them._ They didn’t want me the way I was so I changed! And now it’s not what they want either!”

 _“Whoa, hey! Calm down, Pine Tree. They’re going to hear you.”_ When Bill spoke Dipper’s limbs went limp. Rather than falling to the floor, though, they suddenly reanimated themselves and he only stumbled a little bit before stabilizing again. “They’ll act tonight, no doubt. We gotta get them before they get us!”

His body suddenly felt weightless and Dipper couldn’t control his limbs. Everything looked a little fuzzy, and he began to wonder if Bill was just giving him some sort of weird dream.

_“What are you doing?”_

“Co-piloting! You were clearly worked up, so I’m taking charge to give you a break and take care of things!” Bill moved his body to his closet, rummaging through it until he found Dipper’s hunting knife and some gloves.

_“Take care-? What are you going to do?”_

Bill closed his eyes and everything went dark. His human form appeared out of the inky blackness, his glowing lava lamp-like eyes glowing at Dipper to keep him calm. _“You want me to be real, right? And you want away from these ungrateful meatbags?”_

_“W-well…yeah, but- Do you need a hunting knife for that?”_

The blond chuckled and Dipper felt a rush of magic go through him. On the outside, he could feel his body shiver and fall to the floor, hopefully not making enough noise to alert anyone.

 _“There’s only one way to get what we both want, Sapling. You’ve been thinking it for a little while now too.”_ Though Dipper didn’t really have any form that he could see in this state, he could feel Bill’s arms wrap around him, the blond’s mouth not even an inch from his. _“It’s just a few more kills. The last ones! Then you and me? We can be together and_ **_free!_ ** _”_

Dipper had no way to push Bill off of him, so instead, he just huffed at the demon. _“Are you suggesting-? No. I mean… I couldn’t._ ”

_“Psht, you’re telling me that you’re not sick of their ungrateful attitudes? You’re not fed up with them scheming against you?”_

They _had_ been pretty awful to Dipper lately. First they suspected him of drugs, then they would flat out _ignore_ him which is what lead to his attempted suicide in the first place. They weren’t just going to accept that he was happy now? Was he not _allowed_ to be happy? His own family was shunning him for being happy, and now they were going to strap him down, _torture him,_ then take his happiness away!

 _“They’re going to hurt you - hurt_ **_us_ ** _\- if we don’t do this. I can make you happy! They don’t want you to be happy.”_

 _“I did this for them,”_ Dipper seethed. Bill’s words were swimming around them in red, angry letters. They were going to hurt him. Bill can make him happy. They were bad. Bill was _good._ _“I did this for them and now…”_

 _“And now, we have to take care of them,”_ Bill said softly, the rest of his words softening to a blue color. The tense anger from before disappeared completely, everything going totally silent and still.

 _“I can make it feel like a dream,”_ he whispered.

If it felt like just a few more kills, what would the big deal be? With them out of the way, nothing would keep him away from Bill. Nothing would make him unhappy, he would never be constantly tired again, and he wouldn’t lie in bed all the time wanting to die.

_“If it feels like a dream…”_

_“There ya go! Now let’s go find that baseball bat in the shed.”_

 

~~

 

The basement was dark. So dark that it was a surprise to Dipper that Bill could move his body through it so easily without tripping on anything or smacking into a wall. The fact that it was three AM didn’t help either since Stan had always been sure to shut off any lights that weren’t needed to cut the electricity bill.

Everyone had gone to bed a few hours before, none of them aware that Bill had been watching them closely to make sure they had actually fallen asleep. He had explained to Dipper that Ford should be first, seeing as he was the least likely to stay asleep for long.

Ford’s lab door was open slightly and Bill pushed it open with the end of the bat he had gotten from the shed. It was hefty for a bat, but it would need to be for this.

The door creaked open and immediately Ford sat up, his eyes heavy with sleep.

“Dipper?” His voice cracked and his eyes shifted down to the bat then back up to Dipper’s eyes.

A large smile spread that probably was hurting his cheeks spread on Dipper’s face, Bill’s laughter echoing in the empty hall behind them.

“Bill,” Ford gasped. He leaned back in his chair and reached for something on his desk, but Bill took one large step forward and swung the bat, the wood connecting with the elder man’s face and knocking him out of his chair.

“Dipper, fight him!” he choked out. Blood was dribbling down the side of his head and he tried to push himself up, but Bill stepped on his back, forcing his face into the carpet.

Twirling the bat with his gloved hands, Bill dug Dipper’s heel into Ford’s back and laughed when Ford groaned. “Wanna play ball, Fordsy? You pitch, _I’ll swing.”_ Another hit from the bat had Ford spitting out blood.

He weakly tried to push Dipper’s foot off of him, but he was too disoriented. “Dip- Dipper, he’s using...using you.”

Bill wasn’t using him. Bill was _helping him._ Why couldn’t Ford see that? After how much Dipper had changed, how could he still not see that he was happy?

“Me? I’m giving him what he wants!” Bill roughly tapped the bat on the top of Ford’s head. “ _You,_ on the other hand, are trying to hurt him! I’m just helping him stay with the winning team!” He punctuated the last word with another swing, a crunching sound silencing Ford’s attempt at words.

Dipper’s eyes began to burn but Bill didn’t close them or even blink as he continued to use the bat more like a golf club on Ford, who had stopped moving and fighting after the third or fourth hit. Even his garbled words were replaced with the wet sound of the bat chipping away at his head.

Soon the bat broke through the metal plate Ford had installed to keep Bill out of his head - some good that had done - and even more blood was splattering all over Ford’s lab, coating the walls and his desk with dark red droplets.

Dipper had no way to look away from the scene, but it was somehow okay. Everything was blurred and surreal enough that it felt like a dream, or at least like he was just watching some horror movie.

Bill stepped off of Ford, lifting the bat to Dipper’s face. It was splintered in some places, pieces of flesh stuck to the broken bits, and blood was running down the sides of it onto his hands. “Well, one down, two to go! That wasn’t so hard, was it? Ford seems to have gotten too old to fight!” He threw the bat down onto the body and it rolled off, landing in the large pool of blood that had quickly grown.

As Bill started to prance up the stairs, humming while he unsheathed the hunting knife, Dipper tried to feel _something_ over what had just happened. It didn’t feel like it had actually transpired, though, since he had no memory of even getting up off the floor when Bill had talked him into doing this, so it was hard to even feel bad about it.

Upstairs, Stan had fallen asleep in the recliner watching TV, snoring loudly enough that he didn’t hear Bill walking up to him.

“This one will be even easier!” Bill quietly cheered. He stood in front of the TV, the eerie blue glow casting his shadow over the sleeping man. He gripped the knife tightly in one hand and raised the other to cover his mouth, not wanting to alert Mabel of what was going on.

Adjusting his hold on the knife, Bill slowly stepped forward, almost as if he had to fight Dipper’s legs to move.

“C’mon, this is going to be the quickest one, we’re almost done,” he whispered. “This time tomorrow you and I will be free.”

Another shiver ran up Dipper’s spine and Bill covered Stan’s mouth and raised the knife, bringing it down into his chest swiftly before there was any other kind of protest. Just as quickly as the knife had gone in it came out, a fountain of blood pouring out in thick streams.

Stan barely fought, Bill only having to keep Dipper’s hand over his mouth for a short time.

The crimson liquid continued to pour out over his grunkle’s old, white shirt, spilling like an uncorked waterfall down onto the chair. Bill put his hand over the wound, the glove soaking up some of the blood.

“See how easy this is? You’ll have your body back in no time, and I’ll have one of my own! Now no one will be able to get in our way!” Bill let the knife fall onto the ground, wiping his eyes with the back of his less bloody hand.

Tears had begun to spill from them, though Dipper wasn’t sure why. He didn’t feel like crying. He didn’t feel like _anything._ It felt like his emotions were all on a full stop, all dulled so that it felt more like a dream.

“No need for the waterworks, kid! We’re almost done! One more stop we gotta make.”

The sound of a door opening upstairs made Bill whip his head around to see if he had been discovered by Mabel. Not that it would be much of a problem at this point, but it would be easier if he got her by surprise.

Sneaking up the stairs, Bill kept himself low while he listened for more movement.

“Dipper?” Mabel whispered. “Dipper where are you?” She had gone into his room and hadn’t turned the light on yet.

When the door closed and the light flicked on, Mabel screamed. Dipper was soaked in blood and the smile only Bill could pull off was stuck to his face.

“Dipper, I-I came to- to warn-” She backed away from him only to trip and land on her rear, large tears rolling down her cheeks. “I wasn’t going to l-let them- oh god, Dipper, what did you do?”

Bill laughed, the sound making Mabel shake. “Nothing that’s going to matter in the timeline of the universe!” He moved closer to her so that he was standing above her, his hands empty of any weapon.

“Let him go,” she sobbed. “Bill, please, let him go!” Her face was a mess of tears and she was sniffling between sobs.

“Pine Tree _wants_ to be here with me! Besides, he’s **_mine_ ** now,” Bill snarled. “I wanted him so I made him mine. And he wants you guys out of the picture because you wouldn’t be happy for him!”

“No, no!” She shook her head and put her hands over her face. “I _was_ happy for him! I wanted so badly f-f-for him t-to…”

Seeing Mabel so broken while practically lying on the floor made Dipper’s chest feel more hollow than it already was, confusing him. How could she be so upset about this? He had done this for her and yet she had agreed to lock him up. If she really cared, why would she want to take this from him?

Bill shrugged Dipper’s shoulders lazily and kneeled in front of her. “What’s done is done, Star! Dipper gets to be happy, and I get Dipper. Plus a physical form in which I can **_destroy_ ** stuff with, but hey, that’s just icing on the cake!” His arm snapped up and grabbed Mabel by the throat, squeezing it until she made a gagging sound.

“Di-Dipper, puh-please,” she whined. “Fight him. H-he’s not-”

A second hand wrapped around her throat and pushed her to the ground, Bill putting a leg over her chest so that he was straddling her chest.

“I’m not the problem,” Bill sang. “You are. Or, rather, you _were._ ” His grip tightened and Mabel tried to buck him off, her hands clawing at Dipper’s. Her nails made a few cuts but didn’t do anything that hurt him enough to make it stop.

 _“I can’t,”_ Dipper screamed. _“I can’t do this, Bill stop!”_

Bill closed his eyes, Dipper’s body still holding Mabel down by the throat. His physical form manifested in the black again but this time his eyes were an angry red.

“ _We’re doing this together! Once she’s gone we can be together and do whatever we want!”_ He yanked Dipper’s invisible form closer and the proximity made Dipper shiver.

_“She’s my sister! Sh-she’s done so much for me!”_

_“Everything except for let you be happy!_ **_I make you happy,_ ** _”_ Bill shouted. _“No one else can make you happy, do you understand?”_

A more violent chill wracked Dipper’s body and his eyes flew open. He could feel that his face was covered in tears and he was breathing so heavily that he thought he might pass out.

Below him was Mabel, her eyes mostly closed. Her neck had a ring of deep purple and smudged blood that stuck out against her pale skin. Her usually rosey cheeks were a shade of blue, as were her recently glossed lips. He hadn’t even noticed in the last month or however long he had been with Bill how sickly she had started to look.

“Bill?” Dipper raised his hands to his face. The once gray work gloves were heavily drenched in blood, though the color seemed to be slowly fading from them. “Bill? Where are you!” He shouted so loudly that his throat burned and a cough pushed its way out. He looked down again at his sister and forced himself to cry over her.

No part of him could feel the right emotion. All his mind would come up with was how good and happy Bill’s magic had made him feel.

“Mabel, I’m sorry,” he said flatly. He couldn’t mean it. He _couldn’t._ Because he didn’t mean it. No part of him big enough to make it mean anything was sorry. “What did you do to me?” he whispered to the empty room.

Was Bill just leaving him? Was he going to wake up from the dream-like state and suddenly feel everything? Why would the one person helping him leave? He couldn’t just be alone. He knew Bill was there. The magic was still in him and he felt fine, Bill _had_ to be there.

Dipper stood and stared down at Mabel. Some part of him saw her chest move as if she were breathing, but that part was the small part of him that was hopeful that he hadn’t just done what he did.

Now that he had control of his body again, Dipper left his room and stood in the hall, staring at the very dimly lit staircase. Everything still felt like a dream. He felt like any second he was going to wake up and maybe everything would be okay. Maybe he’d wake up and Bill would be there.

He made it to the stairs and looked down them. The only sound he could hear was the slight murmur of the TV, cutting in and out from the poor reception it received in the shack. The hushed voices were saying something about a string of recent, close together murders, but Dipper couldn’t catch enough of the details to know if it had been his handy work or not. It likely was.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him from taking a step down and he whipped around to see who had touched him. The same hand had to stop him from falling down the stairs.

“Whoa, Pine Tree, it’s just me! Physical forms take a while to form, y’know!” He looked as he always had in Dipper head. Blond, fluffy hair, his blue and golden eyes making his head swim. He seemed a little taller, though.

“This isn’t what I wanted,” was all Dipper could force out at first. “It doesn’t feel real, but- even if it’s not, I don’t like this.”

Bill smiled but his eyes held frustration. “This is what we _both_ wanted.” He grabbed Dipper by the hair and roughly pulled him closer for a kiss. It had the same effect as it did in his dreams and Dipper fell limp against Bill, his mind fogging over.

“I don’t want this to be real,” Dipper whispered, mostly to himself.

“Then don’t think it is! Simple fix. We can pretend I just swept you off your feet and stole you away. This was all just a bad dream and the Pines are fine. How about that?”

Nothing about him standing in the hallway with Bill felt real. Not even the still warm, bloody gloves sticking to his hands. Maybe it was because he didn’t want it to feel real. Maybe he could just sweep it under the mental rug and pretend none of it was. Maybe he was having a bad dream. There was no way he’d do that to Mabel. Right?

“Okay. This is a bad dream. It’s a bad dream and it’s not real.”

“Good! Now let’s get busy! I’ve got a physical body now and a whole lot of energy to destroy stuff!” He ruffled Dipper’s hair then picked him up, cradling him bridal-style. “You’ve been such a big help!” Bill kissed Dipper’s forehead and laughed. “You look like you’re about ready to feel awake again. Let’s get out of here then I’ll wake you up, alright?”

The demon’s words resonated in Dipper’s head. He was ready to be awake. He was ready to go with Bill and stay far away from the mess he had made at his home.

“Okay.”

Bill smiled and held him closer as he started to trot down the stairs. “We’re going to have so much fun, you and I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending theme:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zgNye6HTE&index=25
> 
> Eeeeuuhm. Idk what to really say about this one tbh. It was supposed to be something I wrote over like two weeks (ahahaAHAHAHA) then be done with it forever, but because of life drama and who I am as a person, it took me waaaaay too long. But hey, it's here now, and that's all that matters. Moral of the story? ...Uhm. Don't do drugs? Drugs are bad, kiddos.
> 
> This ending is kinda left up to the reader, tbh. If you wanna believe it was a bad dream too, go ahead. I won't really ever say if it was or not.
> 
> Thanks for reading this messed up thing, comments and kudos always appreciated <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! As always comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! <3


End file.
